Undeserved Punishment
by Me-agaisnt-the-world
Summary: Before L'L. Deep in the Ghost Zone, there's a weapon that destroys ghosts. The master of the weapon has a new target: a ghost boy named Danny Phantom. Can Danny save his family, defeat the ghost, keep his identity hidden and come out ALIVE? Check out NSI
1. Chapter 1

**Umm... Hi? Yeah... I know... new story.. and I haven't finished WfG yet... you can throw tomatoes at me. This, I hope, won't be a long fic, 8 chapters max. Anyways... for those of you who read "new Story Idea" know about the new story idea and thanks to pearl84, I know have a title and am starting to post it. This fic will be dark so be warned. Anyways.. here are some warnings...**

**WARNING: This fic will have spoilers of season 3 episodes, from Efae all the way to UJ. There won't be too much from others, but a lot from Urban Jungle, which has aired in the States adn almost everywhere now. So read by your own risk.**

**DISCLAIMER: ME OWN NOT DANNY PHANTOM. Or... I don't own Danny Phantom, his wonderful creator Butch Hartman does and also Nick. If Me and my muse owned it... trust me... you'd know. **

**Anyways... onto chapter 1**

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Chapter 1

"Finally, some peace and quiet!" Tucker exclaimed as he jumped onto Danny's bed, closely followed by Sam and Danny. The two shook their heads as Tucker started to cuddle a pillow happily.

"Ok… how is it that Danny has the ghost powers, I'm a goth and _you're _the freaky and scary one?" Sam asked her other best friend. Danny laughed, before returning to his somber mood. Noticing this, Sam gave him a comforting smile. "Danny, relax. Aren't you supposed to be the one happy that there are no ghost attacks?"

Danny grimaced. "Of course I am, but as soon as I start enjoying it," he started, but was cut off by a blue mist escaped his mouth. He sighed. "That would happen," Danny said pointing to the remnants of the mist. Tucker groaned.

"Come on! Can't the ghosts give you ONE day of relaxation?" he asked Danny as he changed into his ghost form.

"Why don't you try telling them that Tucker," Danny suggested as he prepared to take off. Seeing his friends just sitting and watching him, he asked, "Aren't you coming?" They gave him dry smiles.

"We'd thought you never ask," they replied as they ran to get weapons.

:------:

"Whoa," Sam whispered in astonishment. The middle of the town was left in rubble, with people fleeing all over the place. She, Tucker and Danny had just arrived, and couldn't believe the damage that one ghost was causing.

Almost instantly, Danny snapped out of his disbelief and took charge. "Ok, we need to wrap this up fast. Tucker, Sam, just try to get as much people out of here as you can. I'll deal with the ghost."

With discreet nods, both friends took off to perform their tasks, while Danny prepared for a difficult fight…. If he only knew what was in store for him.

Danny flew towards the ghost. It was covered by a dark cloak, something shining underneath. It's cold dead eyes were an uncommon shade of red that pierced through Danny's skin, making him feel empty inside.

_Ok, this will be harder than it looks_ Danny thought, shivering. He quickly recovered and aimed an ecto-blast towards the ghost, taking him out of the air.

"Hey, James Bond, come to put an end to your spy career?" Danny jeered. The ghost narrowed its eyes and returned the blast, stronger than the first. Danny yelped in pain as he skidded across the sidewalk.

"Enough with the witty banter halfa, let's just finish this," the ghost snarled, releasing another blast.

Thinking quickly, Danny darted out of the way, but the blast grazed his shoulder. He hissed in pain as he grabbed it. He felt the ectoplasm starting to ooze. Right away Danny knew this wasn't a ghost to mess around with; he meant business.

Leaping into the air, Danny charged at the ghost, which simply grabbed his arm and twisted it fiercely. Danny screamed, knowing his arm shouldn't bend the way it was right now. Summoning some energy in his hand, Danny blasted the ghost away. He dropped Danny onto the ground as the ghost boy clutched his injured arm.

_That was way to close for comfort _Danny thought as he cradled his arm near his chest. He looked towards the new ghost, who was coming at him once again. "Who… who are you?" Danny asked, his hand lighting green as the ghost made his way towards him.

"I've been called many things, but to my employers, I am simply known as the Punisher," the ghost replied, sending a blast at Danny's chest. He screamed in agony as he felt the heat of the blast burn into his skin, the ectoplasm slowly flowing out. "Pity," the Punisher continued, "I'd thought you'd be much more of a challenge, since my employer has employed me to…. Eliminate his problem."

Danny closed his eyes and focused some energy to surge through him. In one unfocused moment, the energy came bursting outwards, sending Punisher thrown back towards a wall.

Weakly, Danny stood up and smiled. "Cool!" he explained. He then muttered, "Now, how in the world did I do that?" Lonely clapping broke through his thoughts as Danny's direction turned back to the ghost.

"Interesting," Punisher commented, pulling back his cloak. "You have more to you that meets the eye." Punisher pulled back his cloak even further to reveal a machine like canon that had a dark tube flowing up to his chest. Danny widened his eyes at the machine. "But unfortunately for you," Punisher continued, as he listened to the hum of the machine, "So do I."

In a spilt second, the canon unleashed a wave of spectral energy, hitting Danny squarely in the chest. Pain like he had never felt before surged through him, opening bruises and letting ectoplasm fall from them. Danny screamed in pain, not knowing what else to do.

Suddenly, the pain stopped as Danny was pushed across the pavement again. _This is going to be __**a lot**__ harder than I thought _Danny told himself painfully, as he got up to battle again.

:------:

"There, that's all of them," Tucker said, pointing to a group of teens running farther away from the battle area. He turned back to Sam. "How do you think Danny's doing?" he asked her.

From out of nowhere, a scream echoed as a black and white blur was thrown into a nearby building. They looked to see their friend painfully trying to stand, but failing miserably.

"Survey says… not well," Sam answered as she and Tucker ran to help their friend.

Danny saw his friends coming towards him, with the Punisher coming behind them. "Guys, get out of here," he called out weakly. They stopped and looked at Danny oddly, before noticing the ghost coming straight for him. Without hesitation, Danny pushed himself into the air and sent a round of ecto-blasts at the ghost, trying to push him back. However, the blasts didn't seem to faze Punisher much; he kept coming.

_Think Fenton think_ Danny told himself, trying to think of a plan. He didn't notice that his foe had stopped. _There has to be something you could do to stop this guy_. Punisher charged another ray, but Danny was to focused in his thoughts to notice; he hovered in the same spot.

"Danny! Look out!" Sam and Tucker screamed, getting Danny to break out of his thoughts. They were a bit too late though.

As Danny prepared to dart out of the way, Punisher released another blast from his canon. Once again, Danny felt the unbearable pain of the spectral waves. This time however, he felt that it was ripping him apart slowly. Danny felt the waves surge through him, painfully taking energy from his form. Screaming was the only he could do, wait for the pain and scream.

His now limp body fell towards to the ground again. He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees and gasped for air while Punisher stood tall over him.

"And you're supposed to be a protector?" he taunted. "Please, your as much as a challenge as a fly on the wall." Danny stiffened at the words. "And look," he continued, "Your little fan club is coming to help you. Maybe then you'd have a reason to fight."

"Stay away from them," Danny said venomously, pushing himself from the ground.

"That struck a nerve didn't it Phantom," Punisher continued, "It's quite a shame really, they don't need to be hurt, but if you insist."

Without warning, a huge blast erupted from Danny's outstretched hand, sending Punisher flying right by his friends.

"Sam, Tucker get out of here now!" Danny yelled, as he kicked off the ground and sped towards Punisher, who was taking flight as well. The two ghosts attacked fiercely, with neither side clearly showing the winner.

Contrary to his words, Sam and Tucker stood in their spot, transfixed at the fight overhead. They knew Danny was getting weaker, and they didn't know how long he would last.

"Sam, maybe it is a good idea to get out of here," Tucker suggested, only to get an angry scowl in return, "What I mean is that we can go get some help, Danny can't handle that ghost on his own and you know it."

Sam sighed; Tucker had a point. "Fine."

As they turned to go, a RV sped across the road, weapons failing about. Sam and Tucker looked at each other and groaned; now was not a good time for Danny's parents to show up. They looked up at Danny again; he seemed not to have noticed his parents' timely arrival.

"Danny really can't do this on his own now," Sam said as she followed the RV, Tucker close behind her.

The vehicle came to a sudden stop and out jumped two people: One a large man with an orange hazmat suit, while the other was a woman with a large weapon in her hand and wearing a blue hazmat suit.

"Maddie, hurry up, I want to rid the town from the ecto-manifestations already," the man whined.

"Jack be patient, I need to set up the ectoneutronolization blaster before we do anything," Maddie told her husband.

Sam and Tucker, who had just arrived to hear the name of the weapon, gasped. "the ecto neutrolwhatitsface?"

"The ectoneutronolization blaster," Maddie explained, "It drains a ghost of all the power it uses for it to fight and make their form weak enough to rip apart. Now all I have to do is put in the power source and lock onto one of those ghosts' ecto signature and we'll be in business."

Sam and Tucker gaped at her. They then turned up to the sky; it didn't take too much thought to think of who was first. They heard a beeping and the triumphant cries of the ghost fighting couple, which signalled the device was ready. They then heard a mechanical voice then said "ectosignanture confirmed; target locked."

"Say goodbye, ghost boy," Jack said, as he watched his wife launch the attack.

:------:

"Well, looks like you've done all you can Phantom," Punisher said, sending a blow to Danny's head. The ghost boy cried weakly in pain as he descended a couple feet. "Now it's time to finish this." Punisher brought his canon to Danny's chest and fired a powerful blast from it, just as a green blast came from behind Phantom. Both blasts hit their target at the same time, and like before, Danny felt as if he was being ripped apart and drained of all energy; he screamed out in agony.

:------:

"DANNY!" Sam and Tucker screamed as they watched the blasts hit their target at the same time. They were shell-shocked; this couldn't be the end for their friend, he was much stronger than that.

"Ha-ha! Take that ghost!" Jack exclaimed as he watched Phantom fall to the ground, creating a huge crater as he did so. The other ghost was taken aback at first, before calmly floating to the ground with an evil grin on his face.

"Well, it looks like the hunters finished my job for me," Punisher's voice called out, as he kicked Danny's limp body further away.

"Leave him alone!" Tucker yelled out while trying to hold Sam up; she couldn't believe what just happened. Punisher directed his attention to the pair, along with Maddie and Jack.

"So you think he didn't deserve to be punished do you? Tell me boy, what has he done for this town?" Punisher asked him sceptically.

"Loads of stuff," Tucker said confidently. "He's saved this town more than any of you can count, and-"

Punished snorted. "With the power that excuse for a ghost had, it's a wonder he saved anything."

"Shut up," Sam said coldly, finally finding her voice. "He's more powerful than you think."

Punisher turned his head towards her. "Really now? Too bad it's too late for him to unleash any of that power anymore."

What little colour that was left in Sam and Tucker's faces drained.

"He can't be," Sam whispered. She knew he was lying.

"You think I'm lying do you?" he asked, judging the look on her face. "Those combined attacks hit hard; one is bad enough. If your hero isn't gone yet, he will soon."

Suddenly a blast hit him from the side of his head. Everyone wheeled around to see a pale Danny Phantom, clutching his chest and breathing quite hard.

"Danny!" Sam and Tucker cried in relief. Punisher scowled.

"Looks like I still have a job to do," he said with distaste. He then turned Sam, Tucker, Maddie and Jack with a smile. "But first," he said, raising the canon towards them.

"Leave them alone," Danny told him angrily. His narrow eyes were glaring at Punisher as if he was going to turn him into dust.

"What connection should you possibly have with those two," he said nodding to Jack and Maddie, who were looking at both ghosts with disgust.

"Take another step further and I'll blast you into smithereens," Danny told Punisher with such hatred Sam and Tucker never heard him voice before.

"What makes you-" Punisher started, only to be thrown farther away by a powerful ghost ray.

Danny flew over to the others, slowly but as if nothing had happened, and stood in front of them protectively. "Are you guys ok?" he asked them concerned. Jack and Maddie gaped at him; was a _ghost_ asking them if they were _alright_?

"We're fine, but what about you?" Sam said hurriedly. Phantom shrugged.

"I've been better," he said, and Sam couldn't help but notice the large bruised leaking ectoplasm from his stomach; she gasped.

"So you _can_ protect the people in this city," Punisher said menacingly. Danny turned back to the ghost; the ghost hunters were surprised at how fast his expressions changed, he was almost human. "Fine, but be warned that this shall be their downfall as well as yours." Punisher lifted his canon towards the group and charged it again. The humans gasped but he ghost boy held his ground. As the attack came closer and closer, he put up a strong shield and focused on blocking the attack.

The blast was one of the most powerful Punisher had released that day. It was straining on the shield; Danny didn't know how long he could keep it up. He focused all the energy he had and re-directed it to the shield, pushing against the blast.

"You shall not win Danny Phantom!" Punisher yelled in triumph. "Give up!"

"I-will-never-give-UP!" Danny yelled, sending energy towards his foe. As he said each word, a light started to shine from his core, growing brighter and brighter before engulfing everything around him. A small explosion occurred, sending everything thrown 50 feet away.

As Punisher stood up… he saw another huge crater… and the ghost boy and humans were nowhere to be seen.

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**So that's Chapter 1. Hoped you like it... if you did (or want to tell me something) please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**And I'm back. This is fresh from teh evil teddy bear's editing... so yeah. Here's chapter 2... so you'll now know what happened after I left the cliffie.**

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Chapter 2

A bright light appeared and faded across a mountainous landscape, leaving behind five figures lying on the ground.

Sam stood up, coughing slightly, as she looked around. They were clearly somewhere cold, since there was snow everywhere and a bunch of mountains.

"Where are we?" Tucker asked as he stood up next to Sam.

She shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno." Just then, a moan of pain caught their attention. They turned around, to see Danny, his knees buckling and swaying slightly.

"Danny!" they cried as they rushed over to them.

His friends caught the injured ghost boy as he fell, breathing raggedly and clearly weak beyond measure. His chest, covered in green ectoplasm, had a small hole, leaking the green ghostly blood from its master.

"We need to help him," Sam said, "There's no way he can hold his form for much longer. We need to find shelter and get him to-"

She stopped as Tucker gave her a hard glare, and jerked his head to the side. Sam turned and gasped… Danny didn't just bring Tucker and her to wherever they were, he also brought…

"Where in the world are we," Maddie wondered out loud as she looked around the frozen wasteland. Jack stood up next to his wife, holding the ENB his chest as if it's his most prized position. Their eyes then found the two teens looking at them fearfully.

"Sam! Tucker! Are you two alright?" Maddie asked. She let out a sigh of relief as they nodded, before her eyes finding another person in their arms. His eyes were closed, and looked weak, but there was no mistaking the snow white hair and black and white jumpsuit. "Phantom," Maddie said, with usual hatred and venom; it was probably his fault they were here.

Tucker made sure Sam was holding Danny up before letting go and turning towards the older hunters. Danny sunk lower into Sam's arms, apparently not noticing he did.

"Look, he's injured, he can't possibly defend himself or have meant to transport us here in the first place," he reasoned. Unfortunately, he forgot who he was trying to reason with.

"Are you mad boy?!?" Jack boomed. "That ghost wanted to bring us here to finish us off." He took out a smaller ecto-gun and pointed it to Phantom's head. "Take us back now!" he demanded. Phantom made no recognition that he heard him.

Tucker wedged himself between his friends and the Fentons. "Look, I know it looks fishy, but we need stick together or else we'll never get out of here. Dan-I mean Phantom's hurt pretty badly, but after some rest I think he'd be able to take us back."

"Tucker," Sam called out distantly.

"Besides, he's not evil. Didn't you see?"

"Tucker," Sam said more forcefully.

"He saved us. I mean if that doesn't prove-"

"TUCKER!" Sam practically yelled. The boy in question turned around.

"What?" he asked annoyed, but soon gasped. Danny, still breathing hard, had a blue mist coming out of him, and his feet seemed to be fading.

"I don't know what's wrong," she told him, "I mean we've never seen him like this."

Tucker was at a lost for words. He turned back to the Fentons, who were watching them with curiosity, before turning back around to Danny. The halfa was clearly fighting something, and that was causing the mist to come out of him. Suddenly, there was a bright light and the mist was gone, leaving Danny to slump down in Sam's hands even further.

"Ok…" Tucker said shaking. "We need to find a place to rest, it's way to cold and Phantom-"

"We're not bringing that _thing_ with us," Maddie said crossly.

"Why not! He might be able to help us!" Tucker exclaimed back.

"That's because he probably brought us here!" Jack said stubbornly.

"Yeah, well-"

"Enough," said a weakly hoarse voice, cutting Tucker off from his come back. The attention turned to the ghost boy, struggling to stand with Sam's help. "Tucker's right, we need to find shelter, who knows what's out there."

"Why should we trust you ghost, you're the reason we're here in the first place," Maddie said sceptically. Phantom sighed.

"I don't expect you to trust me, I just hope that you will ally yourself with something you hate, in order to save yourselves and others around you," he said. Tucker and Sam gaped at him; Danny was spending way too much time with Clockwork. "I may be the reason we're here," Jack made an accusatory but triumphant cry, "but I have no idea where here is, or how we came here in the first place." Danny looked around, trying to get a good look at the place; it seemed so familiar. It was then that he noticed a cave, not too far away, in the distance. He raised his arm shakily. "There," he pointed, leaning onto Sam for support. "We can hide there until we figure out where we are."

"What's with this 'we' business?" Jack asked.

Danny sighed. "You don't expect me to leave you guys here unprotected do you?" he asked hoarsely.

Maddie gave an annoyed laugh. "Phantom, you can barely stand up by yourself. How do you expect to attack anything?"

Danny scrunched his eyes in pain; his mother was right. "Look, I don't have the energy to fight with you. But ask yourselves this; if I was evil, wouldn't I have attacked you or ran by now?" The hunters were silent. "There you go. Now I think we'd better start walking, before something comes and attacks."

"Listen Phantom, we might have to work together here, but you can't boss us around," Jack said.

Danny scrunched his eyes tighter. "Fine," he gasped, "What do you think we do?" Sam put his arm over her shoulder and helped him stand against her as he waited for their answer.

"Well… um…we…we should probably… get… going," Jack said lamely. Maddie ran her hand tiredly over her face.

Tucker smirked. "Hey, D-Phantom, why didn't _you _think of that?" he asked sarcastically, only to get a look that screamed 'Did you have to say that?' from Danny and Sam.

The group started walking, the ghost hunters in the front while Sam and Tucker helped Danny.

"Are you ok, Danny?" Tucker asked, as he saw Danny's eyes yet close again.

Danny groaned in answer. "It feels like I'm being ripped apart into a million pieces," Danny said hoarsely. He stumbled a bit, only to be caught by his friends. "Thanks. I don't know how much longer I can stay conscious though."

"When we get to the cave, you can rest," Sam said reassuringly.

"No he can't," Tucker said sadly. Sam glared at him.

"Of course he can! Why wouldn't he be able to?" she asked him angrily.

"Because of my parents," Danny answered in a painful whisper. His chest was burning and he couldn't take much more of this. "If I rest, I'll turn back into Danny Fenton, and I don't think my parents would like to see me as a ghost. They'd probably hit me with that stupid gun again."

His friends looked sympathetically at him, then at each other. Tucker sighed.

"Danny, I know you might not like this but-" Tucker started.

"No," Danny said firmly.

"Danny, I know I was against it before, but maybe-" Sam said.

"No! I know what you're going to say and I'm not going to," he answered. "It's not worth the risk."

"Danny, you've seen them accept you before. You're they're son, they'll accept you," Tucker tried to reason.

"Don't you think I know that!?!" Danny replied back angrily, "I know they'd accept me, but from the way they're acting right now, I wouldn't be surprised if they thought that Danny _Phantom _overshadowed Danny _Fenton! _Besides, if that ghost finds out… he'll have more people to attack just to get to me."

Tucker and Sam looked at each other again; Danny really thought this through.

Danny cried out in pain again as he fell, unable to hold himself up by himself. Sam and Tucker quickly grabbed him, but not before his breathing became shallow once again. Both friends knew it was only a matter of time before Danny reverted back into his human form.

"Danny?" Tucker shook his friend. "Danny, come on dude, you need to stay awake."

Danny's eyes opened slightly. "So tired…" he mumbled. His eyes closed again as he forced himself to get rid of all the pain he was feeling. Finally, after several minutes of being dragged by his friends, Danny opened his eyes and stood up, leaning onto his friends for support. "Thanks," he whispered as they helped him towards the cave.

His friends gave him small sad smile. They walked up to the older ghost hunters, who were looking at Phantom disapprovingly. Danny's gaze was on the ground the whole time.

"Hey Sam," Tucker said quietly to Sam as he looked from Danny's parents and his friend. "Take Danny inside and help him stay awake." Sam looked at the ghost hunters and then the ghost in their arms and sighed, gripping Danny tighter as Tucker let go.

Sam took Danny into the cave and looked at her semi-conscious friend pitifully. "Danny…" she said, her voice trailing off in concern.

"I know Sam…" came his weary response. His green eyes looked sadly into her violet ones. "I know, but now isn't the time to tell them. I want to find that ghost before I-" Danny's sentence was cut off as he sank to the ground, crying out in pain. His hand gripped his injured chest and his eyes closed.

Sam's eyes widened and quickly bent down to Danny's side. "Danny, save your energy," she told him, deeply concerned. "You need to stop worrying about that ghost and save the remaining energy you have." She saw Danny swallow in pain, before he nodded. Her eyes then drifted to his hand at his chest that was now coated in ectoplasm. She helped Danny brace against the wall and watched as he tried to regain control of his breathing. Sam put her hand over Danny's gloved one and gently moved it away, despite Danny's efforts to have it firmly on his chest. "Danny, let me see," she told him softly, trying to stop Danny from wasting more energy.

Sam glanced at his chest and gasped. Danny's chest was covered in ectoplasm and blood. "Danny," she whispered, her eyes alert and fearful. She looked around the cave and found a beige cloth on the ground. She quickly picked it up and pressed down on Danny's chest to try and stop the blood. She cringed and tried to ignore Danny's pained moan. "Sorry Danny," she told him over and over as she tried to stop the blood and ectoplasm to stop. Eventually, a bright white ring of light appeared around Danny's waist. .

"Danny no!" Sam cried, trying to keep Danny focused. "Danny you need to stay in ghost form ok? Focus," she told him. Danny clenched his hand in pain as he tried to force himself to stay ghosts. The rings bounced back and forth, moving apart and back together. Finally, the rings disappeared, leaving Danny breathing hard and Sam looking at him sadly.

"Are you ok Danny, that looked painful," Sam asked him sympathetically after a few moments as she helped him sit up.

Danny nodded. Just then, Tucker came storming into the cave, muttering something incoherent. He then turned his gaze to his friends and looked at Danny sadly.

"Are you ok Danny?" Tucker asked, as he surveyed his friend's appearance. He noticed that Danny's usually bright aura had dimmed substantially.

"Yeah," Danny said hoarsely. "What did my parents say now?" he continued. Tucker's eyes widened.

"What… what do you mean? I wasn't talking to them!" Tucker said quickly. Danny and Sam both raised an eyebrow and he sighed. "They still think you're evil."

Danny groaned. "Great… I can't wait to see their reaction of their son being an evil ghost boy," he said sarcastically.

Sam and Tucker looked at each other and sighed; Danny was so stubborn.

"Danny," Tucker said annoyed, "I know you're freaked out about telling them but they deserve to know before they figure it out themselves."

Danny sighed, "I know Tuck, it's just that, well… can you blame me for being freaked? I just got attacked by some freaky gun thing and feel like I'm being ripped apart."

Sam and Tucker looked at each other, before looking back at Danny. "Well…" Sam started before being cut off by footsteps coming into the cave.

Danny parents walked to where Danny, Sam and Tucker were sitting and stood in front of the teens. Danny sighed quietly to himself and looked up with a neutral look on his face, hiding the dejection behind it.

"Ok Phantom," Maddie began, "We don't like you, and you don't like us," Danny rolled his eyes at that, "but since we're going to be stuck together, we have to get along. That's why we have a few rules we want you to follow."

Danny smirked. "Fine… what are they?"

"You are not to attack us or use your powers against us in any manner," Jack told him sternly, "And must not do anything without our knowing."

Danny closed his eyes in pain and nodded. "Fine, anything else?"

"Yes, you are not aloud to come in contact with any of us," Maddie said seriously.

Danny's eyes shot open as he, Sam and Tucker exclaimed, "WHAT!"

"Sam, Tucker, you are not to have any contact with Phantom," Maddie told them in an authoritative motherly tone.

Sam and Tucker both jumped up and began to protest.

"Alright," Danny answered quietly after a few minutes. Sam's mouth was left hanging open as she and Tucker turned around back to Danny. His head was hung and his matted white hair covered his face. "I'll accept your terms."

"Danny wait," Sam started, "You don't have to agree to that, it's unfair, unjust and-"

"Sam, don't start," Danny said tiredly, "Just do with the Fentons say." His tone was dejected and scared.

Maddie's eyes lit up as she heard it, before shaking the thought out of her head. Ghosts couldn't feel dejection…could they?

Sam and Tucker looked at their friend and sighed sadly. They followed Maddie and Jack to the other end of the cave where they watched the Fentons make a fire.

Danny watched them and sighed sadly. A wave of pain passed through him as he bit his lip to refrain from crying out. _It's going to be a long night_ he thought to himself as he watched the cloudy sky turn from grey to black.

* * *

**Ok, so here are some things. One, if it seems that Maddie and Jack are a little OC, I tried my best. Remember, this is from Season 3 up to and including UJ, so I put in some stuff from FP. It still seems OC to me though. Two, I have Phantom and Danny written differently because some parts are from Maddie and Jack's perspective, while others are from Danny himself. Another thing... the ENB is the ectoneutrolization blaster. **

**And if you're wondering about the mist... another question that's added to the plot. See y'all in the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok, it's a bit late, but I just spent my first homework weekend finishing CH11 of WfG. Either way, I pushed this back a little bit. Not much action in this chapter, but you shall read and judge for yourself. First part is mostly in Danny's view, the goes to Maddie's view and her thoughts.**

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Danny watched his parents looking at the fire and talking to one another. They were deep in conversation, and Danny had a sinking suspicion it had something to do with him. He looked around and caught Sam's eye. She smiled at him reassuringly, as if she was saying that everything was going to be ok.

_But is it?_ Danny asked himself as he turned away. _My own parents hate me… well this me anyways, and I can't talk to Sam and Tucker. _Another wave of pain surged through him. Danny gritted his teeth and forced himself not to make a sound. The slightest movement would not only cause his parents to be more suspicious than they already are… not to mention cause more pain than he was feeling.

"Alright," Jack said, his voice booming through the entire cave. Danny rested his head on his knees as he listened to what his father had to say. "Maddie and I have come to an agreement that we can't trust Phantom while we sleep."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Figures," he muttered.

"So," Maddie said, "One of us will be staying up at different shifts to keep an eye on Phantom and to make sure he doesn't attack us."

"Um… Mrs. Fenton? Mr. Fenton? You do know that Phantom is right over there right?" Sam asked sarcastically, pointing her thumb to where Danny was sitting.

"He is!?!" Jack exclaimed, "He's not to be near us, he's breaching our agreement!"

Danny, Sam and Tucker all sighed exasperatedly.

"Jack, he didn't move from where he is since we came in, I almost forgot he was here," Maddie told her husband. She took a glance at Phantom and gasped quietly; his eyes were closed in pain. _But… ghosts can't feel_ Maddie thought, _but then again he was screaming in pain. But then what about earlier with the dejection in his voice?_ Maddie shook her thoughts away as she saw Jack trying to prove that Phantom had this planned._ But did he?_

"… Ok, so I'll be taking the first shift. Does anyone have any questions?" Jack finished as he looked expectantly at Sam and Tucker. They shook their heads and watched as Jack sat in front of them, his eyes opened wide.

Maddie went to a corner in the cave and lied on the ground hoping to fall asleep, but she just couldn't seem to. She decided to listen to her husband start to babble and maybe she'd feel tired then, since his babbling tends to get repetitive.

"So you see kids, I won't fall asleep because I'm not tired," Jack said loudly, "Nope, no ghost can get away with anything when Jack Fenton is-" his sentence was cut off by his loud snoring; he had fallen asleep.

Maddie sighed; she should've taken the first shift. She prepared to get up, but then stopped as an image of Tucker, Sam and Phantom crossed her mind. They were talking as if they were friends. Was Phantom using them to get to Danny so that he could spy on her and her husband? However, sounds of running feet broke through her thoughts.

"Danny!" The teens cried out in concern.

"Danny, can you hear me?" Sam asked him, her voice fearful.

_Why is she so concerned? _Maddie asked herself as she heard Sam and Tucker try and get the ghost's attention.

"Can't a ghost rest in peace?" she heard Phantom ask hoarsely, his tone clearly showing he was being sarcastic. Sam and Tucker sighed in relief.

"Not when that ghost is being stubborn and not telling-" Jack's snoring cut off part of Sam's response. "About his secret."

_Phantom has a secret?_ Maddie asked herself. _Why would a supposed hero be keeping secrets?_

"Anyways, how're holding up dude?" Maddie heard Tucker asked.

"Like I was in the Fenton portal and-" A snore from Jack cut off the rest of Phantom's sentence.

_Fenton Portal?_

Everything was silent before she heard Sam whisper "That bad?"

"Yeah," he whispered back. "Well, considering what I went through I'm aloud to be right?"

Why did he mention the Fenton Portal? Could I be right? Is he using these kids to get to Danny so he cold spy on our technology?

"Danny, you're clearly in a lot of pain, you need to change back," Tucker tried to reason.

_Wait… change back?_

"Yeah Danny, we can cover for you while-" Jack let out a huge snore, "sleep and when they wake up, we'll make you change back," Sam told him.

"Not that I don't need the bliss of unconsciousness," Phantom started, " I don't think it's good plan."

"Danny, don't go into a speech about how you're the hero and it's your fault, because this isn't your fault and you need the rest more than any of us," Sam told him angrily.

"I wasn't going to," Phantom said. Maddie heard him refrain a moan. "I just don't want to risk my idenity. I mean, imagine their reaction when they find out what I am."

_Find out what?_ Maddie asked herself angrily.

"Danny, we're worried about you. We've never seen you this hurt before… unless you count the Ghost King thing, but at least you weren't bleeding to death!" Sam exclaimed worriedly.

_They're worried about him? Ghost King? He stopped the Ghost King? Or did he release him? And how can he be bleeding to death… HE'S ALREADY DEAD!_ Maddie screamed to herself.

Maddie heard Phantom struggling and the two other teens sighed.

"Danny, stop doing this to yourself," Tucker told him, concerned. "You know that-"

"It's only a matter of time before I change back?" Phantom supplied. "I know Tuck, thanks."

Maddie heard someone yawn tiredly, and then Phantom sighed.

"Get some rest guys," Phantom said.

"But-"

"No buts. I'll be fine for a little while," Phantom told them. "Besides, I've been through worse right?"

"Danny…" Sam started, but then sighed in defeat. "Just don't wither away into nothing ok?"

"Relax Sam, I'll be fine," Phantom reassured. Maddie, however, heard a slightly strained tone hidden as he spoke.

_You're convincing Phantom, but you're lying_ Maddie realized.

"Alright, Night Danny," Sam and Tucker said.

"Night," Phantom replied. After a few minutes, Maddie was sure everyone except for her and Phantom were asleep. _Great_ she thought wryly _just me and the ghost boy_.

She suddenly heard loud, gasping breaths. Clearly Phantom was in deep pain. She opened her eyes slightly and watched as Phantom was on his hands and knees, gasping for air. Eventually his breathing slowed and he pushed himself up into a sitting position. He threw his head back onto the wall and closed his eyes.

"Ok Danny," Phantom said to himself. "Just keep yourself under control. By tomorrow I'll have enough energy to get everyone out of here." His eyes scrunched tighter in pain. "Or not," he said painfully.

Maddie closed her eyes again in thought, just in case Phantom saw her awake. _Why is he trying to get us out of here? He's clearly not strong enough to even stand by himself. _

Silence over took the cave for a few moments. Finally she heard the ghost boy sigh.

"So… how much did you hear?" Phantom asked.

_Is he talking to me? Does he know I'm listening in?_ Maddie thought panicky.

"You can stop pretending now Maddie, I know you're awake," Phantom said softly. Maddie swore she heard fear in his words, but quickly shook it off. She sighed and opened her eyes. She expected Phantom would be looking at her, but instead found him looking down at his knees with a worried expression on his face. Sam and Tucker had apparently walked back to their corner and were fast asleep.

"Well?" Phantom asked quietly, not meeting her eyes.

"Enough to know that you're more hurt than you lead Sam and Tucker to believe," Maddie answered as she sat up across from Phantom. "And enough to have a couple questions."

Phantom broke into a small, sad smile. "I expected you to," he said in the same quiet tone.

Maddie finally realized the boy was scared. She bit her lip hesitantly; if she asked all the questions she wanted, he might be even more scared and not tell her what she wanted to know. _I need to play it safe, make him think I'm on his side._

Maddie got up and closer to Phantom. The ghost looked up, confused.

"You don't think I'm going to attack you or something?" he asked, his voice dejected yet full of hope.

Maddie looked into his face and saw the hope in the boy's eyes. She couldn't bring herself to crush his spirits… _Wait, am I feeling compassion for a _ghost "No," Maddie said to the young ghost.

Phantom's smile grew shyly as he heard her response. Maddie smiled; Phantom had the same smile Danny had whenever someone reassured him of something.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments.

"Phantom?" Maddie asked gently as if she was talk to her own kids. "Can I ask you something?"

Phantom looked down and gave a small nod, clearly not wanting to be asked anything.

Maddie decided to start off with a minor question. "How do you know Sam and Tucker?"

Phantom smiled sadly. "I've known them all my life. They're the best friends I've had," Phantom responded truthfully.

Gears started tuning in Maddie's head _Does that mean he knew them when he was alive? Or did he mean his after life._ Maddie decided not to ask that.

"Well…" Maddie continued, getting a new brainwave. "If you know Sam and Tucker, you'd know my son, Danny too, right"

Suddenly, Phantom's eyes widened in fear. "What-what makes you say that?" he asked nervously.

"Sam and Tucker are Danny's friends, they basically share everything with each other," Maddie said prompted.

Phantom looked down and sighed. "What if, hypothetically, I did know Danny? Would he be in trouble?" Phantom asked after a brief silence.

"Perhaps, hypothetically, he might be for lying to us. Or for being friends with you," Maddie said. Phantom's face fell as a hurt look crossed it. "But," Maddie continued, "As long as he justifies why he lied to us for all these months, maybe then he won't be."

"Oh," came Phantom's weak response. Maddie knew that he wasn't going to expand anymore and she cursed herself for being so direct.

Maddie was pondering her next move when Phantom closed his eyes in pain.

"Are you alright?" Maddie asked, slightly concerned.

"Yeah," Phantom muttered, "I'm just a little sore, that's all."

Maddie raised an eyebrow. "You're not sore, you're hurt," She told, "badly," she added after getting a glimpse of his chest.

"I'm fine," Phantom said stubbornly. As soon as he uttered those words, another wave of pain hit him; he cried out in pain.

Maddie looked at him with pity. If Phantom didn't have powers, the aura and was in regular clothes, she would've thought he was a regular teenager going to a phase. That's when it hit her; Phantom _was _a boy. He probably died when he was a teen… around Danny, Sam and Tucker's age.

She watched as Phantom regained his composure. The young ghost brought his knees to his chest again, gently rocking back and forth.

"Ok… so maybe I'm not fine," he said in false bravery, trying to hide his fear behind it.

Maddie looked at him, he did have emotions. _But why?_ She pondered. "Why?" Maddie asked.

Phantom looked at her in confusion. "Huh?"

"Why do you feel emotions? It makes no sense. Ghosts aren't supposed to have emotion. Yet you do. I want to know _why_?" Maddie told him.

Phantom looked at her, not knowing what to say. Maddie sighed. "Forget it."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Phantom spoke.

"Because I'm not a regular ghost," he said quietly.

"What?" Maddie asked incredulously.

"You asked why I feel emotions," Phantom told her, looking back to his knees, "It's because I'm not an average ghost."

Maddie looked at Phantom, expecting him to go on, but Phantom made it clear he wasn't going to.

Maddie sighed. "Phantom, you claim to be the hero, but how can you be when you hide who you are?" the older ghost hunter asked accusingly.

Phantom didn't answer. Maddie sighed frustrated. This boy was as stubborn as Jack was sometimes.

Phantom was silent for a few minutes before asking his own question. "What do you want to know?"

Maddie looked at the boy in shock before shaking it off. She listed her possible questions before coming across one she wanted to ask for a long time "Why do you protect our town?"

"Because it's the right thing to do," Phantom said, as if the answer was obvious.

"No, not that, though your excuse is pretty weak," Maddie replied, "Why only Amity Park, why don't you protect another town?"

"The truth?" Phantom asked in a small, scared voice.

"That would be nice," Maddie said to him.

Phantom sighed and was silent for a few moments. "To protect the people I care about the most," he whispered, barely making a sound.

Maddie was taken aback by Phantom's response. "So, are you saying that you used to live in Amity before you… died?" Maddie asked hesitantly.

Phantom gave a mysterious smile. "You could say that," came his vague answer.

"But what about your family?" Maddie asked before she could stop herself, "What do they think about you being the ghost boy?"

Phantom's face became unreadable. "They don't know," he said painfully. "They don't know I have these powers, or that I'm a ghost."

Maddie's brain started to form millions of questions. _Who was he before he died? Who were his parents? HOW did he die?_

"I'm able to take make human form," Phantom blurted out, as if he was dying to say that.

"What?!?" Maddie asked incredulously.

Phantom sighed. "I'm able to take my human form," he said a bit more slowly. "I still live with my parents, and they don't know what I really am."

"But don't your parents know you're… well…" Maddie left her question hanging.

Phantom sighed again. "Technically… I'm not dead… just… well… a regular kid, 'cept for the powers I guess," Phantom said awkwardly.

Maddie looked at Phantom like he was insane. "Are you telling me," she said with suspicion, "that you're some sort of half-ghost, half-human creature?"

Phantom's eyes closed sadly. "Believe what you want," he said, his voice full of pain, "But this is why my parents don't know what I am."

Maddie's expression softened. "Phantom, do you know what you're saying?" Maddie asked him, "If you are who you say you are, then all our theories are proven wrong. It's just illogical"

"Well, it's been proven wrong," Phantom told her. "Twice," he muttered to himself. "Besides, your reaction is as close as what my mom might say when she finds out," Phantom said, his voice on the verge of cracking from emotion.

Maddie looked at Phantom as he sat beside her. His emotional stability was exactly like a human, which added to his puzzle. "Phantom, you can't lie to your parents forever?" Maddie told him gently. "Don't you think it's better if you told them yourself rather than them finding out themselves?"

Phantom looked over Maddie and sighed. "You try telling two people who love half of you that you're something they hate," Phantom said, his dejection colouring his voice.

"Well," Maddie said getting up, "just think about what I said." She started to walk over to her side of the cave when Phantom's next sentence stopped her.

"What if Danny or Jazz was a ghost?" he asked, "Would you accept them for what they were?"

Maddie turned around and studied the ghost's face thoroughly. His green eyes looked at her in expectancy and hung onto the silence, waiting for her answer. "Yes," Maddie answered simply, "yes I would."

The ghost hunter sat back where her husband was now sleeping. She looked up at the ghost boy again, only to find his eyes closed and his breathing seemed to become deep and labouring. Maddie smiled at the sleeping boy and sat down next to her husband.

_So, Phantom thinks he's still part human. Now I understand why he acts the way he does._ Maddie thought to herself. Maddie then realized that this boy was one of the most complex puzzles she had ever come across, and one she was determined to solve. She took one last look at Phantom, before lying down next to her husband and fell asleep.

* * *

**So there ya go. Hopefully WfG will be update soon, I just need to get it back from my beta. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed this little Mother/son moment, even if Maddie doesn't know all the details. I hope I made it convincing. I was inspired by a DARK (hinthint) fic with this chapter, and I don't think I portrayed as well as that author. Major thanks to all my reviewers... hopefully you will review again?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well... a week late but at least it isn't 3 months late right? But blame my math exam... I think I failed :( but at least it's summer WHOOT! Anyways, I hope you enjoy it, maybe get an idea of where they are? Anyways, here ye goes... take the plunge into CH4... **

**... wow that was cheesy. Anyways, Chapter 4 away!**

* * *

Danny awoke with a groan of pain. He scrunched his eyes tighter as the will for him to change back grew stronger. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes slightly and carefully tried to sit up, ignoring the protests of his injured body.

_Ok… I need to take this in baby steps_ Danny thought to himself. _First try sitting up, then standing, then walking, then flying, no sweat._ After managing to get himself sitting, Danny pushed himself up with his hands as he tried to stand. Pain shot through his legs as the pressure of holding up his weight started working against him. Danny quickly grabbed the wall for support and bit back a cry of pain.

"Ok… maybe not that fast," Danny muttered. A loud snore suddenly caught his attention and the wounded boy looked around. His father, mother and friends were still fast asleep; a small smile crept upon Danny's face at the scene.

Danny sighed and looked out at the cave. The light from the sun touched the inside of the cave, enough for them to move around without crashing into anything. _Which is good, considering my parents don't want anything to do with me and if I bumped into them they would probably think that I was attacking them or something like that_ Danny thought miserably. Suddenly, Danny gasped and whirled around. Ignoring the jolt of pain, he looked at his mom and thought of the night before.

_What did I do?_ Danny thought in shock; he basically gave away his secret. _I told mom that I was half ghost, she can piece two and two together! I mean, if I told dad, maybe he'd forget but _mom _I'll be on a dissection table before noon!_ Shaking as another wave of pain passed through him, Danny leaned against the wall and started to breathe deep calming breaths. "Ok… it's not that bad, sure mom might know my secret, and I'm still completely drained, it could be worse right?" the boy asked himself.

Danny turned and, from the help of the wall, started walking to a little alcove type clearing in the cave. Finally reaching his destination, Danny braced himself on the wall and breathed tiredly. "I need to figure a way out of this," Danny told himself quietly.

Another wave of pain flowed through him. Caught unexpectedly, Danny cried out, closed his eyes and slid down the cave wall. He felt himself grow fainter and weaker. The pain was so intense that he felt like giving into the will to change back. Suddenly, the feeling of pain increased as Danny felt like he was being ripped apart. He bit back a scream and opened his eyes slightly.

His eyes suddenly widened in terror and alarm as he fought against the will to scream. Coming out of his feet was a blue mist, seeming to eat away his form. His feet were disappearing, and his legs flickered from a solid to an intangible form. Danny closed his eyes and focused every ounce of energy he could to keep his form intact. It was more painful than the two combined attacks from Punisher and his parents. Slowly, but ever so painfully, he managed to stabilize himself.

Danny threw his head back against the wall and gasped in pain. After a few minutes, he managed to regain control of his breathing and let out an exhausted sigh. He was now weaker than before. Opening his eyes again, Danny brought his hand shakily to his face and ran his hand over it.

"What just happened?" he whispered in anguish, looking at his shaking hand. He brought his other hand up and gently took his glove off, biting back another cry of pain. His pale hand was shaking in pain, and instead of a dim aura around it, there was a collecting blue mist around it, growing at sudden points of time. Danny closed his eyes and focused again, trying to make the blue mist disappear. Finally, he broke down into pained filled gasps and tiredly opened his eyes. His hand was shaking even more violently. Danny sighed and put is glove back on. He closed his eyes tiredly again, and braced against the wall.

After a few minutes of silence, he heard movement in the cave. _Great, let's hope that my parents didn't decide for today to be morning people_ Danny thought wryly. Heavy footsteps echoed through the cave, circling the surroundings as if he or she was looking for something.

"Danny?" Sam's voice called out softly. Danny smiled. _So Sam's the one awake, and here I thought she wasn't a morning person_ Danny thought.

Danny opened his mouth to answer her, but then a wave of pain hit him again. Danny groaned and the footsteps grew faster and louder as Sam drew nearer.

"Danny!" she exclaimed as she raced to his side. "Danny, come on, wake up, say something, just let me know you're ok!"

Danny opened his eyes slightly and saw the blurry outline of his friend in front of him.

"Danny," Sam breathed, clearly relieved. Danny tried pushing himself up, but Sam tried stopping him. "Danny don't, you're hurt."

"I'm fine," Danny said stubbornly, pushing himself despite Sam's efforts. He heard his voice try to hide the pain he was feeling, and sincerely hoped Sam didn't notice it.

Sam raised an eyebrow and said, "Danny, you're really pale, shaking in pain and you say you're _fine_! You need a doctor."

"I'm fine," Danny repeated, giving Sam an annoyed look. Sam gave him a scowl.

"I'm gonna wake up Tucker, stay here," she told him.

_Like I have anywhere else to go_ Danny though sarcastically.

:----:

Maddie was awake when she heard heavy footsteps running towards her.

"Tucker! Wake up! Hurry!" Sam said quickly, running to her friend.

"I love you my sweet PDA," Tucker muttered in his sleep.

Maddie rolled her eyes but made no movement to show she was awake.

"Tucker, wake up! This is serious!" Sam said angrily.

"whatsthematter?" Tucker murmured.

"It's Danny, he seems weaker than yesterday," Sam said.

Maddie heard Tucker sit up and yawn tiredly.

"Sam, he shouldn't be any worse than yesterday, I mean, with a night's rest he should've regained some energy," Tucker said in a mater-of-factly kind of way.

"Then why is it that he's over there, paler than he's supposed to be, shaking from trying to not change back and looking like he'll pass out?" Sam asked.

"What?" Tucker asked, clearly taken aback.

"Oh, just come on!" Sam said angrily, running off, Tucker close behind her.

Maddie sat up once she knew the kids were gone and thought back to the conversation she just heard. _Phantom's worse? _Maddie thought _Tucker's right, I saw him resting, he should've gotten back energy… unless…_

The hunter jumped up and tried waking up her husband.

"Jack, Jack wake up!" Maddie told him.

"Ghosts…" Jack mumbled, and then a split second later jumped up awake. "Ghost!" he exclaimed. The male hunter looked around, found his wife looking at him and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about nodding off like that sweet cakes," he apologized.

"It's alright Jack, right now we need to talk," Maddie told her husband seriously.

"Uh… whatever I did, I'm sure I'm very, very sorry," Jack said nervously.

Maddie sighed. "It's not you Jack, It's Phantom." Jack looked at her suspiciously. "I was talking to him last night, you know, to try and understand him, but I'm just more confused."

Jack looked at his wife in anticipation. "So… Phantom tricked you?"

"Yes… no… I don't know," Maddie said with a sigh.

"Let's just work it out, like we always do. And by 'we' I mean I try to understand and you figure it out yourself. Now, what's so confusing about Phantom?" Jack asked.

Maddie sighed. "Well, for one thing, he can feel emotions just like a human."

Jack looked at Maddie. "But that makes no sense! The Conundrum theory of Ghosts states that a ghost, who is only a reversal of the living, can not feel emotions!"

Maddie blinked. "You can remember the Conundrum theory, but not to take out the trash?" she asked. She shook it off. "But yes, the Conundrum theory states that, but Phantom has human like emotions. Last night I noticed dejection, fear, shyness and curiosity. He also cares about the opinions and safety of others. The fact that he feels emotions is what confuses me."

Jack looked at his wife, completely as baffled as she was. However, if he knew Maddie, he was sure that this wasn't the only thing Phantom revealed to her last night.

"But this wasn't it. What really confuses me is… that he doesn't believe he's dead," Maddie told Jack in a hushed voice.

Jack blinked, "What?!?"

Maddie swallowed. "He told me the reason he feels emotions… is because he isn't a full ghost… _half_-ghost he said."

"But Maddie…" Jack started, very confused.

"I know, it's impossible, but that's what Phantom told me," Maddie said. "However, I don't think he's dangerous at the moment," she added.

"Maddie, there's a ghost who doesn't think he's dead and you don't think he's a problem?" Jack asked incredulously. His eyes narrowed. "What did Phantom do to you?" he added suspiciously.

Maddie sighed at his tone. "Nothing Jack. But he told me two things last night. One: he cares about what happens to us, or more specifically the people cares about, And second: he's too injured to do anything."

Satisfied with the answer Jack looked around. "Where _is_ Phantom anyways? Or Sam and Tucker for that matter?" he asked his wife.

Maddie looked around as well. "I don't really know. I know Sam and Tucker went to check on Phantom but I don't know exactly where they are." Seeing Jack ready to burst into a heroic rant, she added, "Jack, I think it's best that we humour Phantom."

Her husband looked at her oddly. "Huh?"

"I think that if we let him believe that we believe him, then maybe we can get the information we need. It worked last night; I took a chance and let him think that I didn't find him dangerous. I asked him questions and he answered most of them. Sure he didn't elaborate, but he will eventually."

Jack nodded, not understanding what Maddie had said, but agreed to be nicer to Phantom.

At that moment, a loud yell caught their attention.

"YOU TOLD THEM WHAT!!!!!!" came Sam's angry scream.

Maddie and Jack looked at each other and then ran from where the scream sounded and hid behind a wall, listening in to the conversation.

"Ok, so now that Sam has deafened me, what did you tell her?" Tucker asked, ringing his hand in his ear.

"I told her that I was half-ghost, not who I was or anything, just that I'm not entirely a full ghost," Phantom said hoarsely, wincing.

"Danny, do you know what you did? You could've blown your cover. If you really wanted say that, you could've told them the truth and then you would be in your human form, probably regaining more energy!" Sam yelled in frustration.

Phantom sighed. "You don't think that crossed my mind? I have my reasons for not telling them right now, I will tell them."

The pair of hunters took a chance and glanced over the wall. Sam had her arms folded across her chest and Tucker standing beside her. Phantom, however, was paler than the day before and was leaning on the cave wall for support. His face was covered by his messy white hair and looked like he was going to fall over.

"Danny, I agree with Sam on this, you could've regained more energy in human form," Tucker told Phantom. "I mean, all you really needed to was-"

"I KNOW!" Phantom yelled, taking everyone by surprise. "You don't think I would've told them already if I cared about that!" he said angrily. "All I care about right now is getting you all out of here, and figure who in the world that ghost is!"

"Danny, stop with your stupid hero complex!" Sam yelled back. "You're hurt, we care too much for you to push yourself too far!"

"Sam, this is what I do!" he retorted back. "Why do you think I use these stupid powers to protect everyone? I wouldn't care if I had to battle a ghost 100 times powerful than me and I had to battle it like I am right now if it meant you guys were safe!"

"And that's why we're scared Danny!" Tucker yelled, clearly frustrated at the ghost boy. "Every time you go and battle a ghost, we don't want you gone!"

"Danny, don't you understand what those guns did?" Sam asked, in a little less demanding tone. "They're draining your energy, if-"

"I know," Phantom said quietly, quickly silencing Sam.

"You _know_," Sam asked after a few moments, "Do you know it's destroying you? Because you don't seem to care."

Phantom sighed. "I know Sam. And I do care. It's just… I'm _scared_." Tucker and Sam's expressions softened. "I want to know why that stupid ghost is trying to kill me, and I'm scared that if I face him again…" Phantom left his sentence hanging, not needing to complete it. "And what happens if I fail… and a ghost comes… that no one can stop, no matter how hard they try."

"Danny…" Sam said softly, getting Phantom's attention. "There's no ghost in the ghost zone that would actually succeed in taking over the world with out someone to stop them."

"Oh?" Phantom asked, half sarcastic, half seriously, "Aren't you forgetting a certain ghost… maybe from 10 years from now?"

"Danny, he's locked in a thermos under Clockwork's watch," Tucker said, " I don't think he'll be getting out soon."

Phantom sighed in frustration but said nothing more. "I'm sorry guys," he apologized, "I was just tired of hearing the same thing over and over again I snapped."

"Well, we didn't help, I'm sorry too," Sam said.

"Ditto," said Tucker.

"So, how did you figure out the blasts were destroying you?" Tucker asked after a while. "I mean, we didn't put two and two together until we saw the mist."

Sam slapped herself in the head. _Now another thing Danny will freak out about or ignore._

Phantom looked down at his hand and closed his eyes. He knew that his hand was starting to break apart again. He moved one hand over to the other and took off one glove, biting his lip in pain. "I had a hunch," he said painfully, showing Tucker and Sam his hand. It was growing transparent and the mist had started to eat away from his form again. It took everything in him just to keep from screaming.

Tucker and Sam gasped, as did Jack and Maddie. Phantom scrunched his eyes in pain as he tried to concentrate to bring his form back. After a while, his hand regained form. Phantom fell exhaustedly to the ground, crying out in pain as he did so.

"Danny!" Tucker and Sam exclaimed as they rushed forwards. Sam caught Phantom in her arms and tried desperately to wake him. A few moments later, Phantom opened his eyes slightly as the two friends let out a sigh. Tucker helped Phantom lean against the wall again and he and Sam sat beside the fallen ghost.

"You see?" Maddie whispered to her husband, still watching the teens behind the wall. Jack nodded, and moved closer to get a better view. Unfortunately, when he moved, he accidentally kicked a rock away, the sound alerting the youngsters they had company. Sam and Tucker whirled around as Maddie shook her head at her husband.

"Looks like we're not alone anymore," Phantom whispered sarcastically, trying to sit up, but Sam and Tucker rested their hands firmly on his shoulders.

"Don't strain yourself," Sam said quietly, her gaze never leaving Danny's parents.

Jack and Maddie looked at each, before Maddie cleared her throat. "Phantom, we've been talking, and agreed that we may have been a bit harsh on you." Sam, Tucker and Phantom raised an eyebrow at that. "Anyways, we're sorry, and we want to let you know we… trust you… for now at least."

Danny surveyed them suspiciously; something was defiantly up. "Would this have something to do with our conversation last night?" he asked.

"Of course not!" Maddie said nervously. That was all the answer Danny needed.

_They're humouring me_ Danny thought to himself. _Well… at least they're acting like they trust me. Best I take what kind of acception I get. _"Thanks," he whispered hoarsely.

A long silence followed the conversation. The hunters watched nervously as Phantom tried sitting up again.

"Danny, don't," Tucker told him, pushing him back against the wall. "You need to heal some more."

"Oh come on Tuck," Phantom said jokingly, "It's not like I'd die if I sit up right?" He pushed himself into a sitting position, but still braced against the wall. "See? Still resting yet I'm sitting. Happy?"

Sam and Tucker sighed. "Honestly Danny, you're like a little kid sometimes," Sam told him playfully. In response, Phantom stuck his tongue out at her.

Maddie chuckled at the interaction, the three of them seemed like normal teenagers, except for the fact Phantom was a ghost and Tucker and Sam were social outcasts. It was then Maddie got a better look at Phantom's bruises. His chest was covered in what seemed like dried ectoplasm, and had a huge deep bruise on it. She was pretty sure there was one on his back as well; both souvenirs from the blasts' effects. She shivered at the thought. _I can't believe we did that_ Maddie thought. _It was the intention of creating the weapon but to cause harm to another living creature just because we thought he couldn't feel… we're no better than what we accuse Phantom of being. _

"Phantom?" Maddie interrupted, getting everyone's attention. "Maybe… maybe you should, well, get those bruises cleaned. They're going to get infected."

Phantom looked down. "Yeah I probably- wait a minute!" Phantom said, interrupting himself, "Are you- that is Maddie Fenton, great ghost _hunter- _being sympathetic to _me_? A ghost?"

"Well… I guess so," Maddie said, looking as shocked as Phantom. Everyone in the room gaped at her.

"Ok, who are you and what did you do to my wife!" Jack yelled, taking out his small ecto-blaster.

Maddie sighed. "Jack, it's me. Put that away will you?" Maddie said. Getting a brainwave, she added, "I was just saying that the bruise looked like it would get infected, I mean since you are _half_-ghost, you should get that checked out right?"

Phantom paled a bit, as Sam and Tucker looked at him, annoyed. "Y-yeah, that's right" he stuttered.

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off from a loud explosion from outside.

"Objects not in sight, sir," a deep voice called out. "Should we keep looking?"

"Affirmative, we need to find them as soon as possible," another voice said, clearly more dignified than the first.

Danny, Sam and Tucker looked at each other, their minds thinking the same thing: They were under attack.

* * *

**So, there you go. Hoped you enjoyed it or at least liked it enough to keep it going. If you haven't figured out where they are, let me remind you that this is in season 3 (up to Urban Jungle, so the first 6 episodes) and that might get you started. Also, whoever can guess where they are transported to and the big bad guy is, gets cookies! **

**So, please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Happy New Year!**

**Wait... is it... YES AN UPDATE! I am sooooooooooooooo sorry about the lack of updates for teh past couple of months. You see, my computer locked all my documents, and when I was able to get it back, I lost most of Chapter 5 for this. Then school started... and lets just say the rest is history. I'm also sorry in advance if this seems a bit stiff to you, remember that I haven't really written a new fanfic chappie for a while... so its hard to get back into a groove.**

**But here's a new chapter to brighten your mood. And believe when I say the plot thickens...**

* * *

Vlad Masters paced up and down his office, his thoughts whirling at his fallen plan.

"You wanted to see me, master?" the sly voice of the Punisher called out to him. Vlad turned to the new comer and changed into his ghost half.

"What was it that made you decide to not follow orders Punisher?" asked the hybrid.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," the ghost in question said as innocently as possible.

"Don't play dumb with me. Your orders were to hurt Daniel enough to extract some of his DNA and put him out of commission for a couple days… _not_ destroy the boy completely!" Vlad said venomously.

"I still don't see how I strayed off orders, the boy is out of commission for a little longer that a few days and I managed to get some of his ectoplasm from the battle."

"You almost killed him and his family! You know that it is vital for my plan that Daniel is alive and well, along with his family and the town. If you don't realize where your loyalties lie, I will be forced to dismiss you… and I mean a permanent dismissal," Plasmius threatened.

Punisher's eyes narrowed in anger as he answered. "Yes master."

Plasmius then turned his attention to his computer and looked at the sample that Punisher had obtained from the younger half-ghost yesterday. A grim smile appeared at his lips.

"It seems that I don't have enough of Daniel's DNA to continue my experiment," he said as he turned to face Punisher once again. "You will find Daniel and extract more ectoplasm from the boy when his mind is focused on battle, but you shall not, under any circumstances, dispose of him and his family in any way. Do I make myself clear?"

A sadistic smile found its way onto the Punisher. "Ah yes, it seems we've run into a little snag Plasmius," he said, as he watch Vlad's face contort with surprise and rage. "You may have created me, but you once said that I am a free ghost once I set foot into the Ghost Zone. I believe Phantom has teleported his safeguard into the Zone, as he has never done that before according to your records of him. Meaning that once I find the defenceless half-ghost, I shall the utmost pleasure in ending his miserable life, that is whatever's left of it." With that, Punisher disappeared into thin air, leaving the fuming and regretful billionaire to deal with his mayoral duties.

:------:

No one dared to make a sound, fearing they would be found if they did.

"Are you sure he gave us the right coordinates?" the first voice replied.

"Of course, he had no reason to lie. He's here to help, so long as we can find them." The second replied.

Danny had heard enough. He knew they were familiar to him… but with the pain he felt he couldn't figure out if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He made up his mind; Danny grabbed the cave wall and tried to stand, but a stinging pain in his legs made him fall to the ground. Sam and Tucker looked at him warily; they both knew that they couldn't stop Danny for trying to get out there and facing these ghosts for long, even if he's hurt badly.

Jack and Maddie looked at the fallen ghost in pity and confusion. They had believed for so long that he was evil, and yet he was trying to face the two attackers. _Or join them_ Jack couldn't help but think.

Danny tried getting up once more. "Alright," he whispered, still looking quite exhausted and weak. "I'm going to see who these ghosts are, and give you some time to run if needed." His attempt ended in failure, as Sam and Tucker firmly gripped the ghost boy by the shoulders and pulled him towards the floor.

"The only way you're getting out there is if they drag you out," Sam answered firmly. "You're way to weak to fight them like this. The Ghost Zone is as safe for you as it is for us, now stop being noble and stay here!"

Maddie looked at the trio as she heard another explosion, followed by an exasperated groan from an outsider. _Phantom may not be completely trustworthy, but at least he's trying to do something to get us out of here._ The female ghost hunter smiled as she looked at her husband, he thinking the same crazy thought she was.

"We'll go," Maddie announced strongly, as she took out two ecto blasters from one of her many pouches, he husband doing the same thing. Sam and Tucker looked at them with worry and wishes of good luck. But as she looked at Phantom's face, she double taked; the ghost boy showed worry but most of all fear and acceptance. Without another thought, she and Jack ran out of the cave to face the two menacing ghosts.

"Look, I believe someone is coming!" the trio heard the second voice cried. Danny, trying to break free from Sam and Tucker's grip, gasped suddenly as he finally recognized that voice.

"Oh no…" he said, his friends looking down at him as he did. He returned their gaze as realization also dawned on them.

"Have you by any chance seen the Great One around? He-" the second ghost started, but was cut off by Jack Fenton's cry of "GET OUT OF HERE FILTHY GHOST SCUM!" The cry was followed by ectoblasts from two sides.

"There's only one ghost in the entire Ghost Zone that calls me 'Great One'," Danny said, trying to stand once more. Tucker and Sam pushed him down once more.

"You need to rest dude," Tucker said, "We'll go try to get your parents to stop firing at Frostbite and that other person." With that, the techno geek ran out of the cave with Sam, leaving a frustrated ghost boy behind.

"Well… it's now or never," Danny said, as he finally managed to stand.

:------:

"Please, we mean you no harm!" the big yeti ghost cried, as the smaller one started firing back.

"A likely story ghost," Maddie said, firing another blast at the ghosts.

"Mr. Fenton, Mrs. Fenton, wait!" Tucker and Sam yelled as they ran out of the cave. However the two ghost hunters continued to fire.

The bigger ghost sighed and said, "I hate to do this, but these is desperate times." He started to charge an ecto blast when a green blast came out of nowhere flew through the crowd, creating a dividing line.

The group stopped at once, and stricken with fear, turned towards the source of the blast. To their great surprise, Phantom stood with his arm outstretched and giving away excess ecto energy. His face showed no emotion, just concentration, although Maddie caught pain and desperation in his eyes.

"You guys don't need to fight each other," he said to them, panting as he did so. _That blast took way more out of me than I thought it would_. "I know this may be hard to believe, but you're on the same side."

The ghosts and ghost hunters looked at each other, then the big yeti ghost smiled broadly. "The Great One is quite right! Allow me to introduce myself; I am Frostbite, leader of the Far Frozen. My friend here is Icepaw," he said, before turning his attention to Danny. "It is great to see you again Danny Phantom, but I wished it was over happier circumstances."

Danny, however, sunk onto his hands and knees, his vision spinning out of control and the painfulness of being ripped apart started to overwhelm him. "Likewise," he murmured, "How far is your village from here?"

"Not far," Frostbite said, walking over to the injured ghost boy. "Come, let us go back to the village, and you can tell us everything along the way."

But as Frostbite got closer, he suddenly froze in shock, as Danny's physical form started to fade and a blue mist started to trail away from him. With a cry of anguish, the ghost boy's form returned to normal as he collapsed on the ground.

Frostbite, Icepaw, Sam and Tucker all ran towards the fallen hybrid, but Maddie and Jack stood where they were, staring at the ghost they had pegged as all their problems for the past year.

_He knew he was injured and risked breaking apart just to stop us from fighting,_ Maddie mused _Could we have misjudged Phantom?_ Not wanting to arouse suspicion, the couple walked quickly toward the crowd that was now gathered worriedly around Phantom.

"He's breathing, that's a good sign," Frostbite said, running his arm over Phantom's body as if he was analysing it. "He seems stable too, but we need to get him back to Lysias so he can have a look at him." Picking Danny up carefully in his arms, he started to walk. "Follow me to the village."

"So how far is the village from here Frostbite," Tucker asked worriedly.

"Oh not far," came his reply, "Only beyond that mountain over there."

:------:

"Once again, supposed ghost hero Danny Phantom has taken hostage local ghost hunters Jack and Maddie Fenton, along with two unknown children. We take you to Lance Thunder, on location."

"Why am I…uhh thanks Tiffany. As you can see, after the most recent ghost attack, the central part of town is in ruins. The local high school has the most damage, along with city hall and many financial buildings in the area. Yesterday, Danny Phantom and an unknown ghost were in combat. After destroying most of the town, The Fentons arrived to, ahem, "rip them apart molecule by molecule" but however was taken hostage by Phantom. There has been no trace of Phantom or the Fentons since the incident. When asked about the crisis, Mayor Masters had this to say:"

"_I am worried about my old friends' disappearances and will do whatever I can to bring justice on the sole ghost responsible: Danny Phantom."_

"_The people of Amity are demanding Phantom to return the Fentons, no matter how odd they might be, to the town unharmed, or else-"_

Jazz turned off the TV while mumbling "jerks." Though she was getting worried, her parents had disappeared when Danny did, and the way he was battling yesterday she was worried that something bad had happened to him.

"I mean, mom and dad can handle themselves, but that still doesn't explain why they aren't back yet. As for Danny, he'll protect them, but what if he's the one that needs saving!" Jazz mused.

She turned to the computer connecting to the ghost zone as a plan started to form in her head. "I wonder…" she mused as she raced over to the control pad.

:------:

Danny opened his eyes slowly, very aware of his splitting headache and sore body. He tried to sit up, but as a result received a sharp pain in his chest; he cried out in pain.

"So, you're finally awake," a deep voice said from the shadows.

Alarmed, Danny sat bolt upright, but at feeling the pain once again, he closed his eyes and let out another cry of pain.

"Take it easy now, you've been through quite a lot in the past 48 hours from what I've heard," the voice spoke, coming closer to Danny.

"Who are you?" Danny managed to ask.

"My name is Lysias, I'm known as a healer in the ghost zone," the ghost replied. "And you, the legendary Danny Phantom, have fallen victim to one of the most deadliest weapons in the ghost zone. A weapon that should not have been in the hands of those that seeks vengeance."

Danny opened his eyes, and saw a blurry outline of a large ghost. When his vision cleared, he saw that the ghost had the appearance of a black wolf and wore a grey cape around his neck. His eyes, a deep yellow, had a calming sense about his frightening appearance.

"Am I in Frostbite's village," Danny asked weakly, forcing himself to stay sitting up. Lysias, knowing full well of the boy's condition, took a glass from the table beside him and gave it to the ghost boy.

"Here, drink this, it'll help give you your strength back," Lysias told him. Danny looked at the contents oddly, before drinking it. "Yes, we are in Frostbite's village, in fact he should be coming back any time now."

"Where is Frostbite? Last thing I remember was that they were fighting…." Danny let his sentence hang before groaning.

"What's wrong," Lysias asked, alarmed.

"My parents… I mean… the Fentons, they must've seen… oh my gosh!" Danny spluttered.

Lysias, finally understanding, chuckled. "Relax young Phantom, they don't know who you are, as you were still manage to keep yourself in… how you say, ghost form."

Danny looked down, shocked, and saw that Lysias was right. "But how…" was all he managed to say before loud shrieks of "DANNY!" filled the room.

He turned, and saw Sam and Tucker running towards him, while Frostbite and his parents walked into the building behind them.

"You feeling any better?" Tucker asked concerned.

"A little," Danny said, pushing himself further up, but Lysias placed his paw on Danny's shoulder, preventing him to move.

"We need to figure out more about your condition and determine the mastermind behind this," Lysias said to him.

"So just answer the questions as much as you can and that should work," Frostbite added, going towards the computer.

"Ok," Danny answered.

"First, from what we gathered from your friends," Lysias gestured towards Sam, Tucker and the Fentons, "You were attacked with some kind of weapon, a blaster of some sort."

"Yeah," Danny confirmed, his mind going back to the previous day.

"How many times?"

"I don't really remember, like 6 or 7, maybe more, Danny said, racking his brain.

His response shocked both Frostbite and Lysias; they looked at each other.

"Are you sure that it wasn't once, and only felt like more?" Frostbite asked worriedly.

"No it was more than that," Sam answered, "We saw him get attacked at least 4 times."

"But that's impossible!" Lysias cried. He turned toward Danny, "How is it that you're still alive?"

Danny gave him a quizzical look. "Isn't that what you're supposed to be telling me?"

Lysias looked at him with utter shock. "That weapon was made to destroy a ghost twice your size with one blast," Danny paled. "If what you've said is true, either that weapon is losing its touch or there is something else that is causing this unusual circumstance. As I sincerely doubt that it's losing its touch, therefore, this is a mystery that has to be solved before going any further."

"Listen Lysias," Danny started, "As much as I'd like to be a lab rat for the rest of my life, can you just explain what this weapon is supposed to do?"

Frostbite cleared his throat, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "Remember the last time we met great one, when you were found almost completely frozen from a certain freeze power you were unaware of?" Danny nodded, "Well, I spoke to you about a central core region inside of your body. All ghosts have this core, for it's their source of spectral energy and how they are able to survive."

"It's like a heart for ghosts!" Jack interrupted.

"Precisely. As you humans need a heart to survive in your world, ghosts need their central core to survive in our world," Frostbite continued. He motioned to the screen, which now had a picture of a ghost's central core on it. "This weapon we speak of does immense damage to a ghost's central core that they aren't able to survive the blast. It drains all the ecto energy of a ghost and converts it into negative energy, creating an explosion that rips apart a ghost's genetic make up by the seams. It's impossible to avoid."

Everyone except for Lysias and Frostbite stood shell shocked. Maddie looked at the expression on Phantom's face, and knew that whatever he expected, he didn't expect that.

"So," Sam said nervously, breaking the tension "Why is Danny still here, if he was supposed to… you know."

"I can only speculate the reason, as this has never happened before," Lysias told them. "My only guess is that it's for his human side that he survived."

Danny stared. "Wait, so being half-ghost was what saved me, wouldn't it affect me more since I'm not a full ghost?"

Jack and Maddie looked at each other; were all these ghosts crazy! How can one ghsot be half human and half ghost.

"Yes and no," Frostbite answered. "You see, you don't rely on only your central core to sustain you. You have your heart and air supply and so forth. I'm sure you've already noticed that some things that would affect ghosts doesn't affect you the same way."

Danny nodded. "But after that many times being attacked, how am I still here, I mean I-"

"This is easily explained after looking at your central core readings," Frostbite interrupted, sounding a little more than shocked. The group turned to the screen once more. A picture of Danny's central core, looking more or less solid was up on screen. "This was your central core after you were able to let go of your ice powers in the form of an attack." The picture changed to one that was dimmer than the last one, and seemed to be fading in and out of focus. "This is what it looked like when we brought you back here. It seemed like you were fighting against the effects of that weapon, and winning too. You're stable for now, but you shouldn't risk the use of any of your powers. It seems that with every ghost power you use, the blast drains more of your energy and leaves you weak enough for the blasts' effect to wear you away."

"When you say 'wear away,' what do you mean?" Tucker asked.

"A ghost can not necessarily be killed, as most are already dead, but they can be destroyed by the means of power levels or ectoplasm loss," explained Lysias. "When this happens, a ghost's physical form becomes a mist or a gas and causes the ghost to blend into the ghost zone."

Maddie started. "Do you mean that the Ghost Zone is made of-"

"Unwanted ectoplasm?" Lysias supplied. "Yes."

Danny closed his eyes; this was way too much to take in right away.

"Young Phantom," Lysias said, getting Danny's attention, "Do you remember the name of your attacker?"

Danny racked his memory. "I think is was… the Punisher or something… I can't really remember."

Lysias, for the second time, cried "Impossible!" Everyone looked at him in confusion. "It couldn't have been the Punisher, because I _am_ the Punisher!"

* * *

**And introducing... Lysias! Here's some tidbits about the new entry into Undeserved Puishment. The name _Lysias_ refers to a Roman person who destroyed the world or manind (forgot which one the website gave me). It brings irony into play because here Lysias is a healer... until that little cliffie at the end. Unfortunately you guys will have to wait till the next chapter... unless you want to guess. If you think you know why I made Lysias a healer and the punisher... let me know in your review.**

**And the plot has thickened now. We've got a big bad guy (Vlad) with a smaller bad guy (Punisher) and more troubling times await our main characters (Danny and crew). Now unless by some miracle there's a snow week and all I have to do is fanfics, there shouldn't be an update throught January. The reason? School. My exams are comign up in 2 weeks and the 3 weeks following I have at least one every week. although if there isn't one by the end of Febuary (even on the 29th ;) ) message me to see what's up.**

**Hoped you enjoyed it and I shall see you all in chapter 6!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi everybody! sees evil glares Um... I know I said by March... IT'S NOT MY FAULT! My School year was the busiest I've ever had. But I am updating now... and I'm planning to move this story along as much as I can so that'll be good. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I'll speak more at the end... see ya there!**

The room stood in silence, sinking in Lysias' last words.

"YOU'RE THE WHAT!!" Sam and Tucker yelled.

Lysias sighed. "I am known as the Punisher and as Lysias throughout the ghost zone."

"But how?" Jack asked.

Lysias sighed again. "Long ago, there was a great civil war throughout the Ghost Zone between the ruler, Pariah Dark, and the rebellion to take him down. Pariah himself was a force to be reckoned with on his own, but with three items he was unstoppable."

"Three things?" Tucker voiced in confusion, "According to our records, he only had the Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage."

"Correct, those gave the king immense power that was nearly impossible to defeat. But the third item that only a select few know about was a gem. This gem had the power to remove the ectoplasm from ghosts and transfer its power to a ghost to raise its ectoplasmic level. When Pariah fell that long time ago, there was a call to separate the three items in case some lone soul tries to find them. My father was the keeper of this gem, but the ring of rage and Crown of Fire were put into a place now known as Pariah's Keep."

"After a while, anarchy rose up in the ghost zone and my uncle opened a jail. He eventually turned corrupt with power and made up crazy laws, so my father took the post of hunting down supremely evil ghosts that needed to be punished, hence the name the 'Punisher.' He managed to fuse the gem with a weapon so that one blast would be enough to drain the power levels of a ghost enough to let be broken down and become part of the ghost zone. He passed down the weapon to me when he felt the job was losing its interest. I think it was so he could go on vacation, but that's just me," Lysias finished.

"So why didn't the Ghost King try to find the gem when he came back?" Sam asked.

"The gem can only be attained by the defeat of the person who owns it. If the person who attains it does not need it, they can give to someone by a process of a ritual. The Ancients defeated Pariah, and then entrusted it to my father, who entrusted it to me," Lysias explained. "He probably would've gone looking for if he wasn't preoccupied with another rebellion."

"So why is there a person who has a weapon that is similar to this and trying to destroy Phantom?" Maddie asked, hiding the fact that the Electonutronlizationblaster works the same way.

"A couple weeks ago, a ghost came to see me, saying that there was an evil ghost who was guilty of letting Pariah free and tried to convince me that you, Danny Phantom, did it." Lysias said.

"WHAT!?" Danny responded, alarmed.

"I knew that this was untrue of course," Lysias hurried on, realizing that his explanation was now making Phantom looked guilty, "since it was known that Vlad Plasmius who was the greedy fiend behind letting him free. It turns out that Plasmius wanted me to distract me long enough to study the ancient weapon and to steal it. It didn't work, but I realize that he was able to duplicate the power this weapon has and enhance it, making it change how much ectoplasm it collects. I can't explain how he managed to get someone who calls themself the Punisher to control this device."

"One word: Cloning," the ghost boy replied. "Has a habit of trying to clone people, though they always seemed to go wrong."

"Yeah, remember that bed sheet ghost? Or Danielle, that girl version?" Tucker supplied. "And there was that ghost who attacked looked nothing like you, it was like a cross from the Hulk and a mechanical canon."

Danny stood, with help from the table, and looked at Lysias and Frostbite. "If Vlad managed to create a duplicate of that weapon, that means a lot of people are in danger. We need to get back to Amity Park and find hat device."

Jack and Maddie stared at the ghost boy. This was a side of him they never saw, but then again they always did chase him with guns raised with no questions asked.

"Hold on there," Frostbite interrupted. "I know you want to help, but the first thing you must do is heal yourself. If you go into battle in this state, that weapon can destroy your central core once and for all."

Danny sighed; he really didn't like how he felt so helpless.

"Besides, there's always that feast we promised you" Frostbite added.

"Yeah! A feast!" Tucker exclaimed. Sam ran her hand tiredly across her face; trust it to Tucker to think about food at a bad time.

"I guess it couldn't hurt to stay a while," Maddie said, earning her a surprised look from her husband. "It'll give us a chance to document some of the cultures of ghosts, that is if you don't mind?"

"Of course not, feel free to," Frostbite said happily. "A friend of the Great One is a friend of ours."

Tension filled the air as the Fentons looked over at Phantom, the ghost whom they pegged for all their problems. "Right…. Friends," Maddie said nervously.

The tension lingered for a few more moments, before a loud beeping sound cut through it like a knife. Tucker pulled out his PDA and examined it, confused. His eyes lit up as he exclaimed "Someone's trying to contact us!" Quickly typing in a combination of keys that only a person that loves computers would understand, Tucker frantically tried come in communication with the person on the other end of the PDA. A few moments later, the techno geek let out a gasp.

"Jazz!?"

"Tucker!" the crisp voice of Jazz spoke through the PDA speaker. "Yes! It worked!"

Sam and the Fentons ran towards Tucker while the three ghosts stood, onlooking their interaction. Frostbite and Lysias looked down at the young half-ghost, who was torn that he couldn't partake in the reuniting with his sister.

"Jazz, honey are you alright?" Maddie asked her daughter, worry filling her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but what about you guys?" Jazz asked, before adding, "I wish I could see all of you guys, the screen is so small."

Tucker looked around and smiled broadly. "Hang on Jazz," he said before running to Frostbite's computer and tampering with it. In what seemed like 10 seconds, Jazz's worried face replaced the images of Phantom's central core. She smiled as she looked around the room, her eyes lingering on her little brother for only few moments before turning back to her parents.

"We're all just fine and dandy Jazzy-pants," Jack exclaimed happily.

"That's great," Jazz said, her eyes surveying the ghost boy for any signs of confirmation that he was also okay. Unfortunately, it did not go unnoticed by her mother, who made a mental note to ask her daughter about it later. "So, where are you guys? Are you coming home soon?"

"In the land of the Far Frozen," Tucker said, hoping that Jazz did not question further to give suspicion to her parents.

"Is that in the Ghost Zone somewhere?" questioned Jazz. "I'm pretty sure D-" she continued before getting the signals from Sam and Tucker to stop talking. Catching on, Jazz said "Oh, I-I

mean I'm pretty sure that's not good."

"Jazz," Maddie suddenly asked, "Where's your brother?"

The tension that followed was so fierce you needed a chainsaw to cut through it. Phantom finally looked up and locked eyes with his sister, trying to get her to get some excuse to come to mind.

"Danny's, um... he's... out looking for you!" she finally managed to say. "Yeah, he's really worried."

Before Maddie could say another word, Phantom cut into the conversation.

"Jazz, is it? Have you heard anything about the ghost who attacked the town?" he asked.

Jazz stood shocked that Danny dared to ask a question, but quickly recovered. "You mean that guy you were fighting? Other than the mayor saying that you're to blame for it, nope," she said.

"That means he's still on the loose." Phantom said, more to himself than anyone else. He looked up at Jazz. "Listen, that ghost is really powerful, it technically isn't even a ghost. You and your brother need to stay inside Fentonworks."

Jazz, Sam and Tucker were stunned that Danny playing with the border line he strived to protect. Seeing he wanted an answer, Jazz composed herself. "Uh... sure."

"Wait, Danny's out looking us!" Maddie exclaimed fearfully. "Jazz you need to do something."

Jazz was getting nervous with the amount of stress her brother was putting on her. She knew that she had to do something, but couldn't for life of her figure something."

"Jazz, does your brother have a cell phone?" Phantom asked.

Jazz looked at Phantom; she had no idea what he was doing. "Yeah..."

"Call him."

Those two words struck fear into Sam, Tucker and Jazz. "But-" Jazz started.

"No buts, call him," Phantom said with the finality that meant no arguing back. For the few seconds that followed, all Jazz could do was look at her parents, to her brother and back to her parents.

"Jazz, call Danny," Maddie said, "This is important."

Jazz gave one last look at Danny, before picking up her cell phone and called Danny. Tucker and Sam turned to Danny, trying to see what their friend was up to, but the only reference he would give was a shadow of a smile. Soon, Danny's familiar ring tone ran throughout the room.

"Where's that coming from?" Jack asked.

Maddie looked up on screen and saw the familiar form of her son's cell phone on the workbench of the lab. "Jazz, look!"

Jazz whirled around and saw her brother's cell phone. She smiled of relief as she tried to think of an excuse to explain why it was there.

However her brother beat it through it. "Your son must have been so worried that he forgot his cell phone in your lab. Isn't that right Jazz?"

Relief filled Jazz as she simply nodded. "So... when are you guys coming home?"

Jack and Maddie looked at each other. "We'll be staying a couple more days I think," Maddie told her daughter.

"WHAT!" she exclaimed. Realizing her tone, she quickly said "I meant, what do you plan on doing?"

"This will give us time to examine some ghost culture for our research," her mother replied.

"And there's always the feast!" Jack added.

Danny smiled as the conversation took place. At least one crisis was averted. His face then clouded with the thought that the clone was still on the loose, and he was no where near being able to help. As for Vlad blaming him for everything, that was just another reason to despise the fruitloop.

Suddenly, his chest started to burn and pain filled him. Danny grabbed the table for support and shut his eyes to try to get rid of it. However it only grew when he tried. A gasp of pain escaped him, causing Danny to be the centre of attention.

"What's wrong?" Jazz asked worriedly.

Lysias looked at the ghost boy then turned to Frostbite. "Take a current measure of his central core reading," he said to the yeti leader. Frostbite did what as asked of him and soon a new reading of Danny's central core was up on screen.

"It seems like something is pulsing from within," Frostbite said worriedly.

"Pulsing from within!" Maddie exclaimed; that did not sound good. She turned to the ghost boy, who now had a vice grip on the table beside him and was shaking to keep himself standing. She didn't know why he was hurting himself. Wait... I'm feeling sympathy... for Phantom! she thought.

Danny, however, knew that he couldn't afford a slip of his powers and transform into his human half. Especially not now. It was then that the pain stopped. Danny started panting as his knees gave way. Lysias caught him before falling to the ground. It was then that Danny noticed the familiar feeling of his ghost sense.

"You're ghost sense," Sam said, causing the two hunters to look at the girl. How did she know what that thing was.

Lysias sighed. "I told you that the weapon eats away at your central core," he told Danny as he helped the boy up. "It appears that even when you use your powers it attacks you from inside."

Jazz looked at them confused. 'What weapon?"

"We'll explain later," Tucker said, before something dawned on him. "Wait, if that's his ghost sense... where's the ghost?"

Anxiety filled the air; Tucker was right. A blast from the screen caught everyone's attention. Jazz screamed as a figure emerged from the wall of the lab.

"Jazz!" everyone yelled.

"Well, isn't this quaint," a menacing voice echoed. Everyone one stiffened; it was the voice of the Punisher.

"I know you, you're that ghost from the attack of the town," Jazz said, backing towards the lab bench.

"And you are the daughter of those ghost hunters," Punisher replied, smiling cruelly. "Maybe you know enough to tell me where they are."

Jazz's eyes quickly darted to the screen then back to her attacker. She randomly grabber a device from the workbench and fired it. A giant net of ectoplasm appeared from the device, but Punisher quickly dodged and smugly said " Is that the best you can come up with?"

--

The onlookers watched as Jazz tried to get away from the Punisher. Danny was very tense; his sister can handle some ghosts, but this was not going to be good. I have to help her somehow! he thought.

His eyes darted to the computer and had a flashback of his fight with Technus in the video game. Danny smiled. If I was able to go into a video game, I should be able to go through a video signal. His thoughts were interrupted with the realization that there was no way he was going to be able to use any of his powers if immense pain hit him when he his ghost sense went off. Maybe if I stall long enough then Jazz can put up the ghost shield and get Punisher into the ghost zone.

"Tucker!" Danny called out to his friend. The boy in question turned. "Do you think you can activate the Fenton's ghost shield from here?"

Tucker turned to his PDA. "I think so, but it'll take time."

Danny smiled. "Good. I have an idea." Cursing himself for the pain he knows he'll go through, Danny closed his eyes and concentrated on making a duplicate.

Seeing what the boy was trying to do, Lysias shouted "Have you not been listening! You're going to destroy yourself!"

Lysias' broke through Danny's concentration and got the attention of everyone, especially the two ghost hunters. They saw his eyes dart to them and to the screen. Phantom closed his and sighed.

"It's the only way." With that, Phantom focused all the energy he could into making a duplicate. His ghostly aura turned green as the ecto energy he created flared up, before finally succeeding in creating a duplicate. The duplicate flickered in and out of focus, but Danny knew that the duplicate was the best he can come up with.

So he knows duplication Maddie mused as the duplicate Phantom nodded to the original and set a course for the computer.

"What are you- OH!" Tucker exclaimed as he saw the duplicate Danny fly into the computer and managed to get into FentonWorks. Duplicate Danny quickly charged into battle, tackling the Punisher with one blow.

"Jazz I don't have much time," the duplicate said to the girl, "I'll distract them, put up some kind of device to get rid of him." He didn't wait for the answer, as Punisher send an ecto blast at Phantom, who deflected it with a ghost shield. The two ghosts then got into an airborne brawl, as the Punisher was badgering the duplicate with attacks.

Maddie watched helplessly as her daughter was being protected by a ghost that she was trying to destroy… or rather a duplicate of a ghost that she was trying to destroy. She looked back at Phantom and her eyes widened in shock. His ghostly aura was shining brightly and his eerie green eyes glowed with concentration. What really shocked her was that he was trying; trying to save her daughter. She glanced over at her husband and saw that Jack too was sharing the same thoughts as her.

"Anytime now!" Both Phantoms said with frustration.

"Working on it!" Tucker called back, quickly typing in anything to try and get the ghost shield up and running.

"Fenton Anti Creep Mode activated, prepare for today's serving of brownies, with a side of pain!" the computerized voice of Jack boomed through the screen. Everyone's attention turned to the screen, as the picture of FentonWorks fighting back filled the screen.

"Way to go Jazzy-pants!" Jack exclaimed.

The seemingly defenceless Fenton Lab was suddenly replaced with many different weapons, all aimed at the two ghosts fighting in the air.

The duplicate sighed in relief, as it turned back into ecto energy and flying back into the computer. The energy then flew back to its master, who was now trying to keep his composure.

Punisher on the other hand was now being blasted by FentonWorks. Jazz ran and opened the portal, where a cardboard Jack tackled the Punisher into falling through the Fenton Portal. Punisher laughed, as he plunged into the ghost zone.

"Jazz! Are you alright?" Maddie asked her daughter. Jazz nodded, turning her eyes to her brother.

Danny was shaking from head to toe. He knew that his body would try breaking apart again and he wasn't too sure that he would be able to fight it. Coming up with an idea, he turned to Frostbite and Lysias. "I need to speak with you," he said, giving the ghosts a look of desperation.

Frostbite and Lysias looked at each other before turning back to Danny and nodding. The three ghosts made their way towards the door before Jazz called out to them.

"Wait!" The ghosts turned to see shocked humans looking at the ghost boy. Jazz looked at her brother for a few moments and questioned what she was going to say before finding the right word. "Thanks."

Danny smiled and walked out the door, Lysias and Frostbite behind him. Once outside, Danny gripped the wall as his whole body flickered in and out of focus. Frostbite watched, alarmed, while Lysias only looked grimly at the boy. A few moments passed before a ring of white light formed around the boy, causing his body to become solid. Not hesitating, the rings of light passed through Danny to reveal his weary human half. He swayed on the spot, before collapsing. Lysias caught the boy before he hit the ground.

"What happened to him?" Frostbite asked curiously. Lysias ran his hand over the boy, measuring his ectoplasmic readings.

"He's stable," Lysias said, "his powers seemed to be dormat, so his central core won't draw much of his power away from him. However, his ectoplasm levels are low, he's going to need rest."

"What about the Fentons?" Frostbite questioned. "They are not supposed to know."

Lysias pondered this as he watched over the unconscious human in his arms. "No one is to see him except for us and his friends. He needs to be in his human form as much as possible," Lysias told the leader of the Far Frozen.

Frostbite nodded. "Very well," he said before leading the healer to a hidden doorway.

* * *

**This was one of the most difficult chapters I had to write. I'm very sorry if it seems quite stiff and doesn't really make much sense, but my orignal finished UP chapter 6 was finished about a month ago until a twist of fate froze me comp twice and caused me to lose almost all of this chapter. I will attempt to help anyone understand this chapter if need be but its taken me this long to post ANYTHING! So I'm quite happy. Let me know what you think, what can be improved on etc. I love hearing from ye. **

**MATW**

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

**Guess who's back... back again...**

*Angry stares* Ok I've been gone a looooooong time. Like I've said on my profile, I took 4 english courses this year, and decided to focus on original creative writing rather than fanfics. That doesn't mean I haven't worked on them though. I warn you that this chapter has many bugs in it... but this was one of the most troublesome of the bunch. As well, I am writing constantly so I shall give you more chapters as quickly as I can. Sorry bout the long wait, I hope it's worth it.

* * *

Chapter 7

"Let the feast begin!" Frostbite exclaimed to the humans happily. But his voice only echoed through the somber table, each human lost in their own thoughts. Frostbite sighed, "You all must eat; you can't neglect your own health."

"How's Phantom doing?" Tucker asked Frostbite. The yeti's face became solemn. He opened his mouth to reply when Lysias walked through the door.

"He's stable," the healer replied. "Though that last fight took a lot out of him, he's very strong willed that one is."

Tucker and Sam looked at each other in relief while Maddie and Jack remained silent. The hunters still couldn't believe what had happened.

"Can we see him?" Sam asked hopefully.

Lysias' eyes rested on the girl and shook his head. "Not tonight, let him rest. Perhaps tomorrow, when everything has calmed down. Right now let's dig into this feast I've been craving about for the last five hours." Lysias took a seat beside Frostbite and grabbed a leg of chicken from the table. The others followed suit, and soon the solemn mood gave way to light conversations.

"So, you ghosts can eat food?" Jack asked as bit into his chicken.

"Only if they're fused with some ectoplasm," Frostbite replied as he dumped the gooey substance onto his plate, Lysias mimicking him. "We also need energy, so we draw it off of a combination of food and ectoplasm. Though not all ghosts use this method, there are various ways they can get energy."

Maddie listened to the conversation with minimal interest, her mind had wandered back to Phantom. _He saved Jazz... why?_ She asked herself. _Could it be we hurt an innocent creature? He did steal everyone's Christmas presents sure, but he denied that and we did see that weird Santa Ghost thing. And then there's today, where even after we attacked him, he sacrificed whatever energy he had to save Jazz. Are we wrong?_

Sam and Tucker didn't even pretend to listen to the conversation, they sat in silence. Each teen knew they had to get to their friend, but did not know how. Sam's eyebrows flew up in remembrance and turned to her friend. "The walls," she whispered.

The techno geek looked at his friend, before breaking into a smile. "Tonight, when they're asleep," he replied back.

"We've already arranged your sleeping quarters," Frostbite said, getting everyone's attention. "The women are in one room while the men in the other. The Great One is in a room not to far away. Shall we show you to your rooms afterwards?" With a nod from each of his guests, Frostbite smiled and continued his conversation about earth food with Jack Fenton.

:--=--:

Silence echoed throughout Danny's room, the faint beeps from the monitor and his deep, laboured breaths cutting through it. The peaceful air broke as Sam and Tucker fell through the wall and into the room. They looked over the sleeping boy, his bruises were bandaged, except for the shallow cuts on his face and arms.

"He's in his human form," Sam whispered, walking towards Danny, Tucker following closely behind her. "No wonder Lysias didn't want anyone to see him, the Fentons would know everything, and if Danny's not ready for that then..." her voice trailed off.

Tucker remained silent, watching Danny sleep. "It's my fault!" he whispered harshly. Sam whirled around. "I should've gotten that shield up faster, or held him back or, or SOMETHING!"

"Tucker, don't blame yourself," she said. "I could be to blame too: why didn't _I_ try to stop him, or back at the cave, why didn't I try and get him to change back. Trust me, I've considered the possibilities, neither one of us could stop Danny if he really wanted something, you know that, I know that. There's no use beating ourselves up about it. What we need is to try and make sure his secret stays that: a secret." Tucker swallowed as he looked at Danny, before turning away and sent a small smile towards Sam.

"Spoken like two wise and brave friends," Lysias' voice cut through the silence as he appeared out of the darkness. The two teens jumped as they saw the ghost. Lysias walked over to them and looked over the injured half-ghost; he sighed. "Poor boy, the amount of pain he must be going through is unimaginable." The two teens tore their eyes away from Danny and looked up at Lysias. "Mentally, physically and most of all, emotionally. I could never be able to do what he does and have enough strength to go on."

The ghost boy groaned in his sleep, regaining the three pairs of eyes he had before. Lysias ran his hand over his body, and watched his heart monitor.

"How's he doing?" Tucker asked tentatively.

Lysias' face suddenly became confused before a small smile formed on his lips. "It seems, your friend is stable and has recovered most of the energy he lost over the past 36 hours or so. A truly remarkable event if anything." His eyes scanned the boy quickly, with a serious face. "However, the effect of the blasts are still evident; you can feel his core pulsing in him."

Sam put her hand over Danny's, her only way of comforting her friend. "Will he be okay?"

"I don't know. It's possible that he could have a relapse, but if he remains in human form for a few days, he should be fine."

Tucker and Sam sighed in relief, but deep down they knew that this was going to be their hardest test yet.

Lysias smiled. _No wonder the boy picked them as his friends, they're as stubborn as he is._ "You should get back to your rooms," Lysias reminded the teens. "If the Fentons catch you, then you'll have a lot more explaining to do. Besides, we've all had an eventful day and you both need your rest."

With a final look at their friend, Sam and Tucker nodded and reluctantly left the room.

Lysias watched them go and then turned his attention back to Danny. "As for you," he said to the sleeping teen, "Let's hope you'll actually listen to my instructions, for your sake, and your town's."

:--=--:

Danny woke up to a world of pain and blurriness. With a moan, he sat up, ignoring the pain from his chest and his head. Shaking, he raised a hand to his head, massaging his temple. "What hit me, a truck?" he said hoarsely, acknowledging his sore throat.

As the room stopped spinning, Danny realized that he had transformed into his human form and was very thankful that he transformed away from his parents. Slowly, and cringing in pain, he got up, taking off the wires from his arms. The monitor flat lined and his headache came back. "Great," he mumbled as he swayed, legs threatening to fall.

Bracing against the wall, Danny walked towards the door, before realizing that he could walk through the wall. He sharply drew his hand back, who knew what was on the other side of the wall. It could be his parents!

Danny sighed; he knew what he had to do, but didn't know if he could. Cursing himself for being so stupid, Danny walked through the wall.

:--=--:

The first thing Maddie heard was the soft patter of footsteps from outside her door. She was about to close her eyes when she realized they were abnormal footsteps. _What's going on? _

Careful not to wake up Sam, Maddie tip-toed across the room, watching as a shadow creep past the door. Maddie opened it and saw the shadow turn a corner, seeming to stagger with every step it took. Biting her lip, Maddie turned back to the open door and to the shadow. _Well... it won't hurt to look_ she resolved.

Careful not to be seen, Maddie followed the shadow, glancing every so often to make sure she wouldn't be caught.

_Is that... Phantom_? Maddie looked past the wall and recognized the black jumpsuit and white hair. _But.. isn't he supposed to be resting. _Maddie saw him grip the wall, then leaned on it for support.

"I can do this..." she heard him whisper. "I have to." Maddie looked at him quizzically; what exactly did he have to do?

Maddie followed the ghost through the base, watching as many of the yeti ghosts murmured various "good morning, Great One." Phantom smiled at them and seemed to force his way through the crowd. Maddie noticed him limping through the door and she soon followed suit.

Phantom walked across the field, his body shaking as he continued to walk towards a huge dome. Maddie watched him curiously. "Where is he going?" she asked aloud.

"The battle stadium," Frostbite said behind her. Maddie jumped and whirled around, the large yeti stood with his yellow eyes looking at her with the same curious stare she was giving Phantom. Lysias stood beside him, watching the young ghost struggle through the snow.

"The battle stadium?" Maddie asked.

"Yes, it's where most ghosts go to train. The last time he was here, we helped him with his ice powers; that was a handful," Frostbite said, smiling slightly.

"But... isn't he injured?" Maddie asked, turning her head back to the ghost boy. Phantom was still struggling to get to the battle stadium. Frostbite and Lysias looked at one another, then turned back to the ghost hunter.

"Mrs. Fenton, I'd like to show you something," Frostbite said. Lysias looked towards the ghost boy and Frostbite nodded in acknowledgment.

Maddie looked at the ghosts and watched Lysias walk towards the ghost boy.

"Well?" Frostbite asked expectantly, walking away from Maddie. She looked hesitantly, then followed the yeti ghost.

_I hope I know what I'm doing..._

:-=--:

Maddie was speechless when she saw the shrine. Every inch of the walls were adorned with paintings and pictures, they even had a few newspapers, all of which had Phantom's face plastered over them. She went close to the stone walls, and saw hieroglyphics and ancient wall art that mirrored ones on Earth.

"Over here," Frostbite called, a ball of ectoplasm in his hand. Maddie shook out of her stupefied state and walked towards him, curiosity sparkling in her eyes.

"I don't really understand, I mean I asked you if Phantom is injured? What are we doing in this.... what is this anyway?"

Frostbite continued to watch the wall. "And I'm answering your question." Maddie looked at the wall. It was a picture of Phantom, attacking another ghost with a long mane of hair and a crown floating on his head. _Wait a minute..._

"Isn't that the ghost king?" she asked, getting a better look at the pictures.

Frostbite nodded. "Yes, that was him trying to get Pariah Dark back into the coffin of forever sleep."

"But..." Maddie started, quickly silencing herself. She had spent all these months blaming Phantom for this and countless other things, but after yesterday she had no idea who he was anymore. Was he truly evil?

Frostbite noticed the woman deep in thought. "I take it you've thought differently about this." Maddie reddened. "You weren't the only ones." Maddie looked at Frostbite inquisitively

"We ghosts used to be able to go to your world and back to ours easily, most of us didn't trouble humans, yet there are the stray few. It was peaceful and easy... until a few months ago. Ghosts were thrown back into the ghost zone, by a young ghost boy."

"Phantom," Maddie supplied, intrigued by the ghost's tale.

"Precisely. We didn't know what he was doing, most of the ghosts stayed away from him. Yet there was a select few who didn't want their privileges of the human world revoked so easily. Skulker, Walker, Ember, and many others ventured into the human world, and each time they were returned to the ghost zone vowing revenge on this ghost named Danny Phantom.

"It wasn't until the return of Pariah Dark when we learned the true nature of Danny Phantom. He gave us safety while the king was destroying what us ghosts made for centuries, albeit most of the ghosts he defeated did manage to pick fights with him. He found out about the ghost king and he tried to rally us together in order to save our home."

"Is that why you call him great one then?" Maddie asked, her tone giving off a slight sarcastic vibe.

"No... most ghosts weren't really keen on the idea of fighting the ghost king at full power. He ventured into your world, you know of his power."

Maddie remembered the amount of damage the ghosts caused, if the ghost shield hadn't been up, the entire town would've been destroyed.

Frostbite continued. "It didn't stop Danny Phantom, yes he was defeated a few times, but he was determined to save the ghost zone, even though he didn't have any affiliation with it. He managed to defeat Pariah Dark, and got back our home... and yours if I remember correctly."

Maddie looked at Frostbite. "He stole the Fenton Exoskeleton..." she mused. He nodded.

"And it almost destroyed him. Ghosts and humans are more alike than you think Maddie Fenton. The exoskeleton was able to enhance his powers enough to take on the ghost king at full power... and survive amongst his 1000's of soldiers until reinforcements arrived. Yet with very ounce of power he let out, that much was taken away from him. When we managed to get him out of the suit, he had about 2 percent of his energy left. He succeeded.... but only just."

Maddie couldn't believe her ears, "That would've been enough to destroy him, why wasn't he destroyed."

Frostbite smiled. "You are forgetting, he is half human... he managed to return to his human half in time to conserve energy. But he was weak, and we had no idea if he was going to survive. So, we did what we could, and left him where he could be found by humans, to receive the help he needed."

A vision of Danny lying crumpled by the ghost shield swam in her mind. "My son... he was found outside the shield... he could've been 10-maybe 20 feet away from Phantom... and not even know it."

Frostbite sighed and looked back to the cave wall. "We call him 'great one' for his desire to help at all costs, even if it hurts himself. Danny Phantom is not evil, we've learned since that day, he helps those in need, ghost or human. You have doubts about his nature, you would be foolish otherwise, but understand this: there will come a day where Danny Phantom will prove to you his heroic nature, but I hope that day won't be too late." Frostbite gave one last searching look at Maddie and left her alone with her thoughts.

:--=--:

Danny sent out another ecto-blast at the target and fell onto his knees into the cold snow. He shivered all over and felt his ghost core pulsing violently within him. _I can do this... _he thought as he pushed himself up from the ground and took aim at the next target. Lysias warned him of his injuries, but it didn't matter. If that clone wanted to hurt Jazz because he thought she was somewhat involved, Danny had to destroy that clone as quickly as possible to save his family. He needed to do this, no matter what the cost.

He shot a series of ecto-blasts and ice beams at the target, before collapsing again. His breathing was ragged and his vision started to swim out of focus. "Get a grip..." he muttered sternly to himself, attempting to stand but falling to the ground again. He managed to control his breathing enough to hear the soft crunching of snow coming towards him. _Probably Lysias again_. He ignored it, gripping the ground and pushing himself up slowly. He heard the footsteps stop and he knew that the ghost was probably right behind him.

"Go away Lysias," he said loudly, trying to sound better than he felt. "I've heard enough of your speeches for one day."

"Did his speech include telling you to get some rest?" his mother's voice said. Danny cringed, she was the last person he needed right now. "Because I can't say I wouldn't agree with him, you're hurt."

"I'm fine," Danny said in the same manner. He pushed himself up from the ground again and managed to stand for a few moments, before his knees buckled under his weight. He braced himself for the impact of the cold snow, but someone caught him. He looked up to see a blurry outline of his mother, looking exasperated.

"Fine huh?" Danny's knees buckled even more and his ghost core started to painfully drain him of energy that he desperately needed. He bit his lip in an attempt to hide his pain, but Maddie's motherly knowledge knew what was wrong before he mentioned it. "Here, let me help you."

She helped him over to the stadium seats and sat him down. Danny didn't look up at her as she leaned against the barrier; he knew she was looking at him. "Thank you," he whispered, looking down at his boots, before closing his eyes. His core was still pulsing, but it had stopped draining his energy. He heard her move beside him.

"It is _I _who should be thanking _you_ Phantom," she said. Danny looked up at his mother, confused. "You saved my daughter yesterday, you were hurt and you saved Jazz's life. Don't tell me that it didn't hurt you, Lysias told us your energy levels dropped after... well whatever you did." Maddie put a hand on his shoulder. "You protected her, under an impulse with no second thought, and for that, I owe you everything."

Danny was dumbfounded. Here was his mother, great ghost huntress, saying that she owes _him. If you only knew mom... _Danny thought.

They sat in silence for a few moments, none knowing what to say. Finally, Danny spoke up. "You owe me nothing. It's my job."

Maddie smiled. "Yes... I suppose it is. But I still owe you something." Danny opened his mouth, but Maddie gave him a look to silence him. She looked him in the eyes; green met violet. "I owe you a chance to explain. to tell me about your adventures... as a ghost."

Danny gave Maddie a searching look, looking for any sort of hidden motive on her face.

"What do you want me to tell?" he asked finally. "To be honest I don't really know how my life works sometimes but-"

"I want you to tell me about all the ghosts you've met, and fought. And I want you to start with one in particular." Danny looked at Maddie, he knew she was going to ask him something he didn't want to answer, ever since she helped him. It was one of his mother's best qualities. "Pariah Dark."

Danny looked at Maddie. He thought she was going to ask about him again, but this was unexpected. "Pariah Dark? As in the Ghost King?" Maddie nodded. Danny searched his mother's face again, then sighed. He gave her a small smile.

"How much time have you got?"

* * *

**And that's chapter 7. The way this is heading in my head, it looks like this will be wrapped up in the next few chapters. Review as always I love to hear from you. Thanks for not biting my head off because of my lateness. Updates on the way shortly : ) Tis my graduation present to you!**

**MATW  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**A little shorter than usual folks, but hey I updated pretty quickly! Hope you enjoy chapter 8. Don't worry, the action is coming soon : )**

* * *

Maddie and Phantom walked back to Frostbite's health facility in silence. She watched Phantom struggle but her mind was racing from what Phantom just told her.

"_I never really knew what to expect when I faced the Ghost King in that final fight," Phantom said, his voice emotionless. "I knew what was at stake and knew that whatever the cost I had to do this. I felt better knowing the ghosts were helping me, but it was just me and the Ghost King, you know? It's the 'one shall stand, one shall fall' scenarios you see in the movies. _

"_It was one thing that he said that stuck with me... he told me 'having that much power, it's a burden, isn't it?' I would never really have the power that I had in the ecto-skeleton, but he was right. Sometimes, these powers... their a huge burden, I mean sure I use them for good and I make sure I use it wisely, but sometimes, I wonder what would happen if I didn't have a conscience. If I didn't care how I used my powers. If I had no _self control_?" Phantom looked up at Maddie. "What then?" _

Maddie shook her head. _He always held back _Maddie thought, _He has the power to destroy us, but when we attack him he holds back. In fact... I've never seen him truly fire at _us? She looked back at Phantom. _He fears what he may become if he in fact loses control, yet he has such a level head on his shoulders. He's just a boy... just like Danny... he's only a teenager. _

Phantom stumbled, and Maddie grabbed him before he fell. "Thanks," he said, half groaning as she helped him up.

"Are you sure you're alright? You seem to be in more pain now than before." It was true; the little time that Phantom told Maddie about the Ghost King, he had paled and seemed weaker than before.

"I'm alright... I guess I just forced myself into training a little too fast," he said, continuing his trek to the facility.

"A _little_?" Maddie asked sarcastically. "Phantom, I may not be your mother, but I'm certainly not an idiot." To her surprise, Phantom rolled his eyes and gave her a huge smile.

"I never said that."

Maddie continued walking in silence, watching Phantom as she did so. _This boy certainly gets more and more mysterious everyday..._

:--=--:

When Maddie and Phantom entered the facility's rec room, they were surprised to see Jazz on the big computer and a worried looking Jack Fenton pacing up and down the room.

"Jack?" Maddie questioned, while Phantom walked over to a table and braced on it, Sam and Tucker meeting him there.

"Oh, uh Maddie," Jack said, startled at his wife's appearance. "You're alright... good... good... I was-I mean I- oh I can't do this!" Jack threw his arms up in the air and stormed towards Phantom, Maddie running after him.

"Jack?!? What's going on!"

"Phantom!" Jack boomed, ignoring his wife. The ghost boy jumped, and turned towards the ghost hunter, surprise and fear plastered on his face. "I just... I mean... After... you know... after all we did to you... you.. you... still saved my Jazzy Pants..."

"Dad!" Jazz whined softly, but refused to take her eyes off of her father and her brother.

"I... I just wanted to say.... to say..." The man burst into a huge grin. "I wanted to thank you." He extended his hand to Phantom at an attempt for peace.

Maddie smiled and turned to Phantom, but he was too shocked to have acknowledged anything.

"Phantom?" Jack said tentatively... something the man never did.

"I... well... you're welcome...." Phantom stammered, taking Jack's hand and shook it slowly. Maddie turned to Tucker and Sam, and saw that they too were smiling, yet something about their expressions seemed to be hiding something.

"Well... now that that's taken care of..." Jazz said, still a little shocked. "How've you guys been?"

"Never mind us sweetie, what about you? How are you and your brother making out?" Maddie asked. Phantom shifted slightly and she could have sworn that the two made eye contact before her daughter responded.

"We're fine, Danny's still asleep, he came in pretty late last night. Said he combed the entire town looking for you guys... he was extremely relieved when he found out you were safe!" Jazz said nervously.

"That's good to hear!" Jack boomed, but Maddie looked her daughter searchingly. She seemed to be hiding something. She was about to retort, but Jack cut her off. "Hey look! Vladdie's on T.V.!"

Maddie turned her attention to the little screen in the corner of her lab, and sure enough she made out the silver haired, egocentric, jerk of a cheesehead. Sam, Tucker and Phantom also turned their attention to the tiny screen. Maddie noticed that Sam and Tucker were looking nervously at Phantom, whom wore the most serious and stone faced expression that she ever saw on the short time she _knew _him.

Jazz, however, looked even more nervous by this. "Oh... uh.. yeah, he-he's doing a press conference on your disappearances. They... um... found new _evidence _of your _captivity._"

"Evidence?" Jack questioned.

"Captivity?" Maddie said after her husband. "We haven't been captured! Who have they deemed responsible?"

"Well... erm..." Jazz stammered, her eyes clearly avoiding Phantom. Maddie wondered for a moment, before it dawned on her. She turned to Phantom and she realized his emotional response.

_He knew... _

"I still don't get it," Jack said, turning to everyone in the room.

"Jazz... what are they saying?" Phantom asked. His voice was eerily calm and level, but Maddie could tell he was angry. Jazz looked nervous, and Maddie knew her expression: it was the same one she had when she was smaller and hid her newest favourite book under her sheets with a flashlight.

Vlad went off the screen and a dark video appeared.

"So that's it..." Phantom said, his eyes focusing on the video. He turned to Jazz, "Show me."

"But..." Jazz's voice was small and fearful, "It's awful..."

"Jazz," Sam said strongly, "We're going to find out eventually. Show us."

Jazz looked at her with pleading eyes, then turned back to Phantom, and she sighed. She typed in the encryption codes and soon the video appeared onto the screen.

The video was black for a few moments, before shadows crossed the screen. Maddie made out figures hanging on a wall of what looked like a cave, moaning. It took her a few moments to realize that she wasn't looking at any person...

She was looking at herself.

The Maddie on the screen hung limply from the chains, scratches and bruises adorned her face. One of the boots from her jumpsuit were missing and a long, deep gash from her knee to her ankle was clearly visible. She hung beside a person that she barely recognized to be Jack. He was badly beaten and unconscious, and looked like he was already dead. The about of blood on his jumpsuit made Maddie queasy at the sight of it.

Maddie turned to her husband and saw that he was looking at the scene with the same disgust that she was. She turned back to the screen and saw a huddle mass that looked like two bodies; her stomach turned over in disgust once more. Then she heard it, quiet malicious laughing. It was deep and raised goosebumps onto her skin. The laugh was of pure evil, and then she saw the person laughing.

It was Phantom.

The Phantom on the screen was contorted in a way that seemed oppose the young ghost across from her. His face was plastered with a huge grin that was creepy, and his eyes seemed to glimmer with evil. There was no humanity in those eyes, they were full of malice and pleasure... and what scared Maddie the most was that this Phantom was the thing she believed to be real two days ago.

"Pause it," Phantom told Jazz, his voice empty. Maddie jumped at his sudden movement as she turned toward him. Jack, Sam and Tucker mimicked her.

Phantom's expression was unreadable, he just stared into the eyes of that evil Phantom for what seemed like hours.

"Danny?" Sam asked tentatively, but he shook his head.

"Play the rest," he said in the same empty voice. Jazz looked at him frighteningly, then obliged.

_The Phantom on the screen laughed again, and the Maddie struggled. _

"_You'll never get away with this Phantom, our mayor won't allow it!" she yelled._

_Phantom laughed. "No, I suppose he won't, but you see, I don't care!" he said in the most malicious voice Maddie had ever heard. "With you gone, I can rule Amity Park without any interference, and all the ghosts in the Ghost Zone will be free to conquer the Earth," the ghost laughed again._

"_Someone _will_ stop you Phantom, you mark my words of it!" Maddie yelled, jangling her chains. _

_Phantom held his hand up, energizing an ecto-blast in his hands. "I've heard enough of your whining!" Phantom threw the energy blast towards Maddie. She screamed and the screen went to static. _

"_That horrific scene was found by our mayor, Vlad Masters, late last night while he was attempting to find any trace of Maddie and Jack Fenton. The Guys in White have issued a $400 000 bounty on the head of Danny Phantom and to the safe return of his captives. We are awaiting a statement by the Fenton's children, both of whom are students at Casper High."_

Jazz took off the video and stared at Phantom. Maddie also returned her attention at the ghost boy, as did her companions. Phantom, however, wore the same unreadable expression that she saw him with while looking at the fake Phantom. He shivered from head to toe, but Maddie wasn't sure if it was out of fear or anger.

"I'm sorry Danny," Jazz said, looking guilty. "I should've hid this or something, I mean, that was just barbaric, and for them to make something like that up is... is..."

"Totally diabolical?" Sam said angrily, watching Phantom for any sort of recognition. "Danny, don't listen to this, any of it, I mean, how dare he! That's low, even by his standards!"

"We're... we're going to need to do a lot of damage control when we get back..." Tucker said, finding his voice. With a dark look from Sam he added, "but we'll change their minds, just like before. Who cares what Vlad does, you're not that thing!"

Something about Tucker's last words stirred Phantom. His eyes widened slightly in remembrance and he shook violently.

Maddie looked at her husband; normally Jack would rush at defending Vlad, but he just stood their, his mouth agape at Phantom. Like her, he was taking this all in so fast that she couldn't believe it was happening.

"Phantom?..... Danny?" Maddie said. Phantom was shaking even more violently, but he turned towards her as she uttered his first name. "Sam and Tucker are right... don't listen to this. We, as in Jack and I, will help you. Whosoever is responsible will pay for this."

Phantom said nothing, he never had a chance too. His right hand glowed a bright blue, before freezing the table and his left hand left a scorch mark under it. His knees buckled slightly as his body flicked out of focus again. Once he regained his composure he turned towards Maddie.

"At what cost?" he asked her, his face stony. With that, he turned and walked out of the room, leaving a speechless group of humans gaping at him.

:--=--:

Danny paced up and down his room in his human form. He wanted to feel the cold of the Far Frozen, wanted to breathe air, and wanted to forget what he saw.

He had seen that Phantom before... stared into the face of something that had no humanity left in it. Albeit it was 10 years older than him, but it was the same feeling. And for that he could not bear to live with.

Yes he beat his future self, but becoming his own worst enemy had never been a thought to him until that encounter. No matter what was said, no matter how much Danny thought differently: they were equal. In strength, in power, in mind.

His mind reminded him again of that day.

_Valerie stood their, gaping at Sam and Tucker. 'The C.A.T. That's the last time I saw you alive. The big explosion at the Nasty Burger, you, Tucker, Danny's family. And it was all your fault!'  
_

_A wave of energy hit Valerie, blasting her to the side. Danny turned, to see a flamed head ghost looked at him. He had Danny's emblem on his chest... confirming his fear._

_' Actually, that was me,' he said, turning to Danny 'and you, eventually.' _

Danny shook it out of his mind. "I'll never become him!" He continued pacing. "It's all Vlad's fault," he mumbled angrily. "That was low, even for his standards. What's his damage!"

Another memory came to mind.

_Vlad was flat against the billboard. 'Sneak attack? Very good, Daniel. You're getting more like me with every battle.'  
_

_Danny floated across from him as Vlad transformed into Plasmius. 'I am _nothing_ like you!'_

_Vlad tackled him and the two started to fight. Vlad pinned Danny on the Football field. 'Oh, you're not? Using your powers to get back at people you don't like? Throwing the first punch? You're more like me than you know.' _

"I'm not!" Danny yelled, throwing his arms in the air. "I'm _nothing _like Vlad. Nothing!" Danny was seething now, and he felt his ghost powers stirring in his body. Danny sighed, attempting to calm himself. _I need to relax, to forget this. I need to focus on defeating the Punisher, then defeating Vlad. I can do that much. _

Danny walked over to the bed and braced on it. He saw a wire that he remembered measured his ecto-energy. Taking it, he measured it, hoping that the few hours he was in his human form regained his ghost energy. _Eighty percent_ Danny thought as he read the screen _Not bad. _

A loud, blaring alarm broke Danny out of his thoughts. He heard the panic and screaming of the many Far Frozeners. Danny quickly transformed into his ghost self and ran outside into the pandemonium. He raced to the main information area, and saw Sam, Tucker and his parents all huddle around Frostbite and Lysias at the computer.

"What's going on?" he heard Tucker ask.

"The Punisher," Lysias replied, his voice full of loathing. "He's coming."

They stood in silence as Danny rushed up to them, unnoticed.

"What does this mean?" Maddie asked.

"It means," Danny started, causing the room to jump and turn to him, "that it's payback time." He was full of determination and as he turned to Frostbite, he hoped that eighty percent of his energy was enough to win.

* * *

**Chapter 8 done! Next chapter(s) is the rematch and hopefully it'll be worth the long wait I put you through for Chapter 7. **

**As well, for those of you who are fans of my other in progress fic, Witching for Ghosts... there's an author's note in there and I suggest you vote, because through your reviews is how I'm deciding whether or not to finish it. Your choice my friends =)  
**

**MATW  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**Writer's Block is not fun. I still plan on finishing this before I start University in 2 weeks. I'm hoping for 2-3 more chapters before it's done. But enjoy my friends : )**

* * *

From the time Maddie was in the Far Frozen, she had never seen the place so lively. Many ghosts were running about either in panic or to secure the land against the Punisher's impending attack. Maddie secured another one of her guns on her Fenton jumpsuit. She and Jack immediately volunteered to help Phantom fight, and even with the boy's protest, he accepted that it was their decision. The only real problem was...

"You're not fighting!" Danny said firmly, for the 8th time, to Sam and Tucker. "It's too dangerous, you guys saw what he did last time. I'm not letting you near it."

"You and I know both know we've faced worse Danny, and you can't do this alone!" Sam argued back, glaring at Danny. The two glared at each other, trying to get the other to concede. Tucker, however, was typing in information into the computer in an attempt to have a warning of when Punisher meets the realm.

"Danny, you know Sam won't give up till she has her way," he said, not looking up from the screen as he typed furiously, "And even if she gives up, you know we'll just come after you anyway without your permission. We've been through almost everything with you, you're not stopping us now."

Danny turned to Tucker, then to Sam and sighed. "I don't like this," he said, looking away as Sam smiled in triumph. "Promise me you guys will be careful?"

Sam looked at him, her expression changing in an instant. "Only if you promise not to get yourself vaporized."

"Deal."

"Wait a minute!" Maddie exclaimed, looking at the trio. They jumped at her harsh tone as they turned to her. "You may consent to this Phantom, but we don't! They're only 14! They may know ghost weaponry and fighting skills, but they're still too young!"

Sam made a move to protest, but Danny stopped her. "You heard them, they'll find a way out of this no matter what. At least this way, we know where they are." Danny then broke out in a smile. "Do you still have the ectoneutronolization blaster with you?"

Jack and Maddie looked at each other. "The ENB? Yes, it's here," Maddie said, surveying Phantom with any hint of his plan. "Why... what are you thinking?"

"It's time to give the Punisher, a taste of his own medicine," Danny said, his smile widening.

:--=--:

Danny looked out of the Far Frozen's health facility window with minimal interest. The plan was set, and all they were waiting for was Punisher's first strike. Danny went over his part of the plan; he was to distract Punisher long enough for everyone else to ambush him.

_I don't know how much fight I have in me, but there's no way I'm letting anyone get hurt for me not being able to stand my ground_ he thought bitterly, _I'm not going to let Vlad have the satisfaction of defeating me. I'm going to defeat the Punisher, then go after Vlad. I have to._

"Danny?" a voice asked tenatively, breaking the ghost boy out of his thoughts. Danny turned to see is mother and father looking at him apprehensively. It was still odd for him to hear them refer to him by his first name: he was so accustomed to 'ghost kid', 'spook' and 'Phantom' that he sort of missed it.

"Yeah?"

"Here," Jack held out a small headphone, the Fenton logo gleaming at the side of it. "It's a Fenton Phone, it'll let you communicate with us."

Danny took it, and stared at it. "Thanks," he murmured, his mind going back to his task.

Maddie and Jack looked at him, expecting another other response, but the ghost boy said nothing more.

"Aren't you nervous? Or Worried?" Maddie asked him.

"A bit," he replied. "I've faced powerful ghosts before, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Jack surveyed the boy carefully, and with a shock realized that his words were empty; he was more worried than he let on. What surprised Jack the most was the willingness that Phantom had to give his life-or afterlife- for his friends. _And enemies..._

"We'll be fine," Maddie assured him, cluing into the same thing Jack had. "You just focus on not straining yourself too much, we don't want you to melt … or whatever ghosts do when they die." Danny didn't take much notice, he just nodded absently. Maddie smiled at his determined behaviour. "Besides," she added, "How are we going to explain to your parents that your human half died when your ghost half dissolved."

Danny jumped in surprise at her words; he had forgotten how much his parents knew about him. He looked up, smiling nervously. "Y-yeah, can't have that," he said, fiddling with the Fenton phone in his hand.

The alarm blared again, causing Danny to jump in surprise once more, and with one look at the Fentons they knew what was going on:

The Punisher had arrived.

:--=--:

Punisher floated in front of a large group of mountains, watching the small village below prepare for battle. "Looks like I'm in the right place," he muttered to himself, surveying the terrain again. "Why did he bring them here of all places? They'd freeze." Punisher became invisible and flew closer to the village, making sure he knew everything he needed to before Phantom faced him. _Time to flush him out._

He became visible again and decided to make his mark. Lifting his canon and aiming it at a ridge filled of snow, he fired. He watched the snow rush down the mountain side towards the village, and turned to take aim on the next pressure point.

However, someone blasted him on the side of his head. He whirled around angrily, only to see Danny Phantom smirking at him.

"You know, destroying things isn't the answer for your rage, I'd think some nice yoga would do you good," Danny said, eying Punisher carefully.

"On the contrary," Punisher replied, "All I need is an outlet for my anger. And it looks like I just found one." He sent a blast towards the ghost boy, who dodged it.

"Whatever you and Plasmius are planning, it stops here," Danny said, his eyes glowing menacingly.

Punisher chuckled evilly. "You little runt, you really don't have a clue do you? Plasmius has his own plan now, I meerly have a score to settle with you." Punisher's cold eyes turned to Danny's confused ones. "It's not polite to leave mid battle. You and I shall have to finish ours Danny Phantom, and when it is over, one of us will fall."

Danny scoffed and gathered ecto-energy in his hands. "Dude, you talk way to much. But if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you're going to get."

He lunged forward, punching Punisher's stomach. Punisher grabbed his hand and twisted it, before throwing Danny into a mountain cliff. He unleashed a blast from his canon, but Danny managed to roll out of the line of fire, getting thrown back a little from the shockwaves. Danny tried to push himself up from the ground while the Punisher charged his canon again. Hearing the hum, Danny darted out of the way, before sending a series of ecto-blasts towards Punisher.

Punisher was pushed a few feet in the air as one collided with himand looked at the young ghost boy; he was starting to flicker. Punisher smiled. "It's time to kick things up a notch." He pointed his gun at another ridge and fired, causing an avalanche. Punisher turned back to Danny. "You can let your human friends and the village die, or you can fight."

Danny turned to Punisher, then to the avalanche heading straight for Frostbite's village. With an angry growl, Danny sped towards the avalanche and fired ice beams at it, in an attempt to stop it.

:--=--:

"Hang in there Danny," Tucker said through the Fenton Phones, as he furiously typed away at the keyboard. _If Danny's plan is going to work, I've got to finish this encryption faster!_ "Frostbite, how're you doing?"

"_Everything is almost in place,_" The yeti replied.

"Excellent, Mrs. Fenton?"

"_ENB 87 percent operational, as soon as we get the signal we'll move out," _Maddie told him.

"Okay, I'll meet you as soon as I'm done this containment shield, all I have to do is finish the modification-" a shrill beeping cut across Tucker's last sentence. Locating the source of the sound, Tucker paled. Danny's energy levels were dropping fast.

"Danny, you got to get out of there and regroup asap!" he exclaimed.

"_Easier said than done Tuck,"_ Danny replied bitterly, his voice straining. "_Having issues with an avalanche here!" _

"_That's not his only issue!" _Sam exclaimed.

Tucker looked up at the screen and saw the Punisher watching Danny struggle with the shield and charging his canon.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed. Tucker punched in the last few codes into the screen as fast as he could, then jumped out of the chair, Icepaw replacing him as he did so. "Danny, listen to me, Punisher was distracting you, he's charging his canon."

"_Young Phantom, you must not get hit with that canon again!" _Lysias said urgently, "_Anymore damage you take from that canon can seriously disrupt your central core!" _

Tucker ran out the facility and saw the tiny image of his friend struggling with the icebeams and the bright light of Punisher's canon taking charge. "Danny, you need to get out of there now!" he yelled. Sam and the Fentons came up behind Tucker and gave him a blaster.

"Tucker, we gotta go!" Jack yelled and the foursome ran towards the fighting.

_Come on Danny, get out of there_ Tucker thought as he watched Maddie and Jack move the ENB into place.

:--=--:

Danny felt the Fenton Phone slipping in his ear as soon as he replied to Tucker. _Crap, _he thought as he felt it completely slide out. He couldn't catch it if he wanted to keep the avalanche away from the village. He managed to freeze the bottom of the snow, but that would only last so long.

A large blast hit him on his side, knocking him outof the air. Danny felt like he was being ripped apart as the spectral wave flowed through him. He fell straight down and felt the cold snow engulf him as he hit the ground. He blinked back stars and tried to get up, but dropped back down with every try. Punisher landed on the ground and chuckled at the sight.

"You know... you really aren't that bright aren't you? I mean, you're not even putting up much of a fight!" The Punisher sneered, walking closer to the weakened ghost boy. "Sure, you figured out who I work for, but I don't think you'd even know what you're up against."

"I know you're a clone," Danny said, pain laced in his voice as he tried to get up again. He managed to get up and stumble backwards.

"Really? Well it looks like I misjudged you," Punisher said in mock amazement. "Give the ghost boy a prize." Punisher continued to walk towards Danny, who was trying to move farther away from Punisher.

"I know Vlad created you to finish me off," Danny continued as he moved a couple more paces backwards.

"Wrong," Punisher said, smiling. "He wanted your ectoplasmic energy, still wants some as far as I know. This weapon was modified to collect your energy and send it back to Plasmius."

"Fruitloop," Danny muttered angrily, stumbling a little.

Punisher laughed. "You know, I expected a challenge from the Great Danny Phantom, the one that none of these measly ghosts could defeat. And here you are, running away to save yourself."

Danny fell on his knees exhaustedly. He looked up at Punisher, and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Punisher asked.

"Who said I was running away?"

A dome encased Punisher and Danny, sending out ectoplasmic shockwaves through it and attacked Punisher. Punisher fell to the ground in a heap and Danny watched as his parents, Sam, Tucker, Lysias and Frostbite surrounded the evil ghost.

"You see," Danny said as he painfully pushed himself up from the ground, gripping his injured side, "Vlad makes the same mistake with his clones; they're always unstable. It's only a matter of time before they dissolve; whether it's because they used too much energy or because they were destroyed."

Punisher's eyes narrowed as he saw his potential attackers coming closer. He then turned to Danny and smiled. His hand inched towards his canon and calibrated it to the highest setting. Danny tensed as he saw Punisher lift the canon towards him.

"Don't even think about it!" Lysias yelled, his kind yellow eyes hardened with anger. "That blast will backfire on you both."

Punisher merely laughed. "If I have to go down," he aimed his canon and Danny forced ectoplasmic energy to form in his hands. "I'm going to take him down with me!"

It happened in an instant. Punisher fired his canon and Danny fired a strong ecto blast to force the blast towards Punisher. The Fentons fired the ENB, Frosbite let out a strong ice blast, Sam and Tucker fired their weapons and Lysias fired his weapon all towards the Punisher. The shield started to crack under the strain of the blasts and it exploded.

Maddie, Jack, Sam, Tucker, Frostbite and Lysias were thrown backwards. When the smoke cleared they saw that Punisher saw thrown into a ridge, his body depleting into ectoplasm. Maddie watched in fascination as the ghost melted away and left a pool of green ectoplasm in the snow. The scientist in her wanted to run towards the goop and take a sample, but Sam jolted her to her senses.

"Where's Danny?"

The group looked around and realized the Goth girl was right, Phantom has disappeared.

"We need to find him," Tucker said firmly, "The last I checked his energy levels were really low, that last blast could have hurt him."

"Or worse," Lysias stated grimly. The group looked at him. "The blast was contained inside the shield, therefore Phantom and the clone got full blast of it. Phantom's injuries from the past few days are not fully healed and he took at least one other hit from that blaster. You see what happened to the clone..."

Maddie turned back to clone and shivered. She brought her pale and tired face towards the group and with new determination etched on her face said, "Let's find us a Phantom."

:--=--:

"Phantom!" Jack called through the frozen wasteland, Maddie trailing beside him.

"I don't understand it, how can he been thrown so far away? The shield was supposed to prevent that," Maddie mused as she and Jack searched the barren land.

"Tucker said he made sure that Phantom's power levels wouldn't overload the shield in the attack," Jack replied. "Perhaps his power levels spiked when he was facing that spook."

Maddie looked at him, "Jack, Sam and Tucker seem to know more about him than we do. Do you think he would've told them about a power spike AND Tucker would've counted for it? I'm certain Phantom didn't hide his true power from them?"

"Maddie, how much does anyone truly know about Phantom?"Jack asked his wife skeptically. "From what I gather, he doesn't set too much in regards to limits, and seems to keep to himself."

Maddie looked at her husband. "Well, can you blame him? He's a _ghost_, we're ghost _hunters, _we aren't really the first people he'd share things with Jack. As for limits, I think he has them-"

"I do too, in fact I think he pushes his limits far beyond his maximum. Which led me to this conclusion," Jack turned and faced his wife. "What if Phantom doesn't know the true extent of his power?"

Maddie pondered Jack's argument as she searched the snow for signs of the ghost boy. "Perhaps," she said after a moment of silence. She called out to Phantom but had no response.

"Maddie, don't get me wrong; I understand that he isn't truly evil and that this probably the best time to be bringing it up, but you've got to admit, as a scientist this is our biggest discovery since we were able to rip through to the Ghost Zone." Jack scanned the horizon for Phantom, waiting for his wife to say something.

"As a scientist this is _the_ biggest discovery we ever made. A human-ghost hybrid? The emotional ranges of ghosts, what they eat, how they live? It's phenomenal," Maddie paused and turned to her husband. "Every one of the conversations that I had with him seem to unravel one of the mysteries that seem to swarm Phantom and every time I figure out something, it brings more mysteries to his being."

The couple walked over a snowy hill and called for the ghost boy again.

"You know," Jack started as the walked down to cover more terrain, "I can't believe Phantom's alone in this. Yes he has Sam and Tucker, but if his parents don't know he's half-dead..."

"I know what you mean," Maddie said knowingly, remembering her first conversation with Phantom.

_Phantom looked over Maddie and sighed. "You try telling two people who love half of you that you're something they hate," Phantom said, his dejection colouring his voice._

"_Well," Maddie said getting up, "just think about what I said." She started to walk over to her side of the cave when Phantom's next sentence stopped her._

"_What if Danny or Jazz was a ghost?" he asked, "Would you accept them for what they were?"_

_Maddie turned around and studied the ghost's face thoroughly. His green eyes looked at her in expectancy and hung onto the silence, waiting for her answer. "Yes," Maddie answered simply, "Yes I would."_

"Maybe he'll trust _us _with his secret," Maddie said hopefully, "And then together we'll tell his parents. He needs to realize- Did you see that?!?" She pointed to a mist of ectoplasm floating upwards and glowing slightly. Jack merely nodded and together they ran to the source of the mist.

The snow crunched beneath them as they ran, and soon they saw a small pile of snow underneath a large collection of mist. As they got closer, they saw a figure lying underneath the snow, a white glove poking out of the pile, flickering in and out of focus. It was Phantom.

The ghost hunting couple ran faster and quickly tried to brush off the snow. As they got closer to Phantom's body, it started to break apart. Maddie looked up at her husband, distraught.

"How can we help if we can't go near him?"

Jack didn't respond; instead he frantically went through his pockets on his jumpsuit.

"JACK NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR A GHOST WEAPON!?!"

Jack ignored his wife and tossed her an ecto gun as he continued to go through his pockets. "Fenton jerky, Fenton phones, back-up Fenton phones HERE WE GO!" He took large patches with the Fenton logo on them. He quickly put them on the pile covering Phantom's body. He then looked up at his wife. "Remember the Fenton Heat Pads?"

Maddie nodded in acknowledgement and gestured to the ecto gun. "And this?"

Jack smiled. "We need someway to contact the others. The Fenton Phones were fried in that contained explosion."

Maddie looked at the defrosting Phantom and then looked back up to her husband. "Jack. You. Are. A. Genius!" Raising the gun high in the air, she fired, sending a green blast into the sky.

As the blast exploded into sparks high above the couple, Maddie turned her attention back to Phantom. The Fenton heat pads had melted the snow off him, and he laid motionless in the cold snow. His jumpsuit was torn in many places, showing gashes that seemed to bleed ectoplasm that then turned into a mist. His usual lively appearance seemed to fade with every flicker of his body.

"Danny?" Maddie asked. The boy gave no type of response. She slowly moved to brush snow away, but as her hand moved over him, he started to flicker violently and more mist joined the collecting mist above him; she quickly withdrew her hand.

"Now what?" Jack asked helplessly, looking at Phantom pitifully.

As Maddie started to respond, voices called to them. The ghost hunters turned towards the voices and saw Sam and Tucker running as fast as they could towards them, followed by Frostbite and Lysias.

"Danny!" Sam and Tucker cried at the sight of their friend. They pushed past Maddie and Jack and knelt at Danny's side. Sam's eyes looked over Danny's injured body, horrified, while Tucker swallowed a lump of emotion and turned to Lysias.

"Can't we do anything to help him?!?"

Lysias looked at Danny, then at the collecting mist and sighed. "He held on for as long as he could, there's nothing more I can do. It's all up to him."

Tucker looked back at Danny then shook his head. "No, there has to be _something_ we can do! He can't just-just" Tucker said exasperatedly.

Lysias stared at the boy's determined face, then back at Danny. He sighed. "There's one way, but like I said, it's up to him."

All eyes turned to Danny, who was starting flicker violently.

Sam then grabbed what was left of Danny's hand. "Danny, I don't know if you can hear me, but you've gotta keep fighting. You always have, and I know you have more fight left in you. Tucker and I are right here if you need us."

Tucker's eyes lit up in realization and moved to Sam's side. He put his hand on top of Sam's. "Sam's right Danny. You _know_ what you need to do to survive this. We'll be right here, like we always are, to help you through it. We knew it would come someday." Tucker looked up at the Fentons, then looked back to his friend. "Danny it's time, show them who you are. Change back, it's your only chance!"

Maddie looked at the interaction between the kids and was confused. _Change back? To human?_ She didn't have much time to ponder, however, because Phantom's form turned into the blue mist. Sam and Tucker quickly moved away, horrified, as the mist broke apart and started to float upwards.

"No..." Sam managed to whisper as she saw the mist float higher.

Maddie looked at the distraught teens, then at Frostbite and Lysias. They moved to the kids and moved them. Sam and Tucker numbly went with them, not taking their eyes off the sky. Jack followed behind them, also looking at the sky. Maddie sighed as she looked at where Phantom laid minutes ago. It felt as she lost something great, more than the first friendship with a ghost.

"Maddie, you coming?" she heard Jack ask her.

"In a minute."

Maddie turned and was about to leave when she heard a groan. She whirled around, and saw some of the mist coming back down slowly. _Odd... _She thought as she looked at it curiously. She watched as the mist started to come together and glow as it floated back to where Phantom once lay. Maddie knelt down to where the mist was gather as more of the mist started to the glow.

"Phantom?" Maddie whispered to the glowing mist. The mist let out a small groan and Maddie looked at it. _Mists can't groan... can they? _ More of the mist gathered and started glowing. The glowing mist grew before it answered her question.

"Yes."

Maddie was alarmed and excited all at once. She turned to her retreating comrades and yelled, "Hey! Everyone!" They stopped and looked at her. "Something's going on!" Frostbite, Lysias, Sam, Tucker and Jack ran towards Maddie and the mist. Jack reached her first.

"What's going on?"

Maddie looked back at the mist, "I think it's Phantom."

The figures surrounded the glowing mist and watched as more and more of the regular mist go down to the glowing one.

"Impossible," Lysias whispered in astonishment.

The glowing mist soon grew so large it started to flicker, in the shape of a body. Sam and Tucker gasped as Phantom's body started to come back together. With one last flicker, Phantom's body solidified and he laid limply and gasping in pain.

"Danny!" Sam and Tucker said, relieved. The ghost boy's eyes scrunched in response and a weak groan escaped his lips. Tucker turned around to a shell shocked Lysias.

"Can you do anything?!? He's fighting it!" he exclaimed.

Lysias shook his head. "It's up to him."

Tucker turned back to Danny and was shocked to see pale green eyes looking up disoriented. Danny's eyes rested on Maddie and a spark of determination suddenly lit in them. He raised his arm shakily and gripped Maddie's wrist.

"I'm... sorry..." he breathed painfully as his body started to flicker.

"Sorry?" Maddie asked, confused, "What in the world for?"

Danny looked around and locked eyes with Sam and Tucker. Sam smiled weakly and Tucker nodded. He then looked at Jack, then back at Maddie. "For not.... telling... you... sooner..." He whispered, his eyes closing in pain and his grip slacking.

Maddie looked at Jack, completely confused, before she saw a ring of light form around Phantom's body. They looked in awe as the ring split into two and moving up and down his body. Maddie watched Phantom grit his teeth in pain as the rings moved slowly, changing his jumpsuit into blue jeans and a white t-shirt. The logo on his chest change into a red oval and white boots turn into running shoes. She turned her attention to his head, as the ring was reluctant to continue. Phantom's features relaxed as the ring went up his face, changing his stark white hair to raven black.

Maddie and Jack looked at the transformed Phantom, horrified. They couldn't believe it; Danny Phantom, the ghost they hunted for a year, the ghost that had been persecuted for months, the ghost they now held an alliance with... was none other than their son.

* * *

**You know, I felt this was a little rushed, but it's your opinions of it that I take on. I think you guys recognize the handy work of Benji, my evil muse. He's very proud of himself. o.O  
**

**As well, for those of you who liked EfFI, you probably noticed I uploaded the first chapter of the sequel. I'm looking for a beta of it if anyone's willing. As always, I love when you guys review : P**

**MATW  
**


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